New Beginning-Timmy's Story
by JennTH
Summary: Continuation of New Beginning Saga. This is Timmy, Ellen's little brothers story as he begins his first year. An OC so you might not like.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is Timmy, Ellen's little brothers story. Starts with his first year and will eventually end in his seventh year. A new group of OCs. I decided on Timmy's story after a while. Part of the New Beginning Saga.

Anyway, I wrote New Beginning years ago, but then I moved it to a blog. I started this story just for fun while I worked on better projects. However, as much as it was just for fun, I grew to enjoy writing about these characters. So whenever I have writers block on my real stories, or even when I am feeling stressed, I write about these characters lives. Many people might not enjoy this since it's OC and all but this story as bad as it might be actually got me through stressful times. Whenever I was feeling upset, I would think about some happy things happening to them or even bad things. I would sit down, and write about them. I logged back onto this site recently and saw some recent requests for this story. So I've decided to resurrect it here since some people don't want to read it on my blog.

Chapter One

Chapter one

My legs felt shaky as I stood in front of the whole school. My older sister Ellen had told me a lot about Hogwarts, but nothing had prepared me for this. The Great Hall was huge. My entire flat could fit inside of it. I bet my dad's house could fit inside of it with each room beside each other. There were four tables full or students and one table for the teachers. Every eye was on us. I turned to who I hoped would be my new best friends, Jerry and June.

"Can you believe the size of this place?" I whispered.

June didn't answer, she was very pale. I expected for a shy girl like her, this would be even more nerve wracking. Jerry just gave a small shrug.

"I expected it," he whispered back. "I've seen pictures. I can't wait to see the rest of the castle."

He seemed so calm, and I wished I could feel the same way. He was confident the moment he'd sat with us on the train though. I hadn't felt nervous about introducing myself to June because she'd seemed so nervous, and she'd look so sad. All I'd wanted to do was cheer her up. I hated to see girls cry, even my own sister. So any nervousness I'd felt about talking to a stranger had gone away. Jerry had entered the compartment as if we'd known each other forever. His confidence had also given me confidence.

I felt at that moment on the train I'd met my two new friends. Ellen had told me it was likely to happen. She'd met Ben on the train, and her best friend Ashley the next day. She'd told me that she'd had a rough start with Ben, but it had felt right hanging out with them. I felt the same way about June and Jerry. I felt as if we'd known each other forever and that I could talk to them about anything. It was so easy to joke around with Jerry and to try and open up June.

I was in awe of Jerry's confidence that night at the sorting either way. Every other first-year had terrified expressions on their faces. The expression on his face could have said that he'd done this a million times before.

"How can you be so calm?" I asked him.

"What is there to be nervous about Timmy? We're getting sorted by a hat. Nothing else is going to happen," he answered.

He did have a point about this. Ellen had been sure to tell me what happened during the sorting. I gazed around the Great Hall to see if I could find her. She'd been so mean to me lately, but I wasn't the only one. She was fighting with her friends as well. Mum was sick of her attitude. I found her at one of the table in the middle. She was whispering with a boy I had seen her on the train with. Was that boy going to be her next boyfriend? I knew she dated a lot to get over Ben who she was in love with, but Ashley was dating him. I looked for Ashley and Ben next only to see them sitting not too far from her. Seeing familiar faces put more confidence in me. I wasn't alone after all.

"You're right," I said and I glanced at June who looked white. Clearly she didn't agree, but I imagined it was because we were standing in front of so many people. It was what had made me nervous at first. "I hope we're in the same house together either way, especially with her," I added the last bit in an even lower voice. I didn't want June to be alone.

"Even if we're not, we'll still be friends," Jerry said. "The houses shouldn't matter. Damian is friends with plenty of people in other houses. We'll be fine."

We couldn't say much after that because the sorting started. I couldn't help but notice that I was the smallest first-year as each of my new classmates were called up. I'd always known I'd been small for my age, so was Ellen, but I'd been hoping that at least some of the girls would be shorter than me. That didn't seem to be the case however. Perhaps someday I'd have a growth spurt, but I wasn't counting on it. Ellen had told me she was the shortest in her year.

I didn't let on that my height bothered me, but it actually did. I didn't like my dad very much because he had basically abandoned us. I hadn't been to his place for so long and now he had some muggle family living with him. However, I'd always wished I could end up being tall like him. He was over six feet tall, but it seemed I would take after my mum who was short, just like Ellen would. I always made jokes about my smallness with my primary school friends but I was very unhappy with it. It was something I was never going to admit to, except to Ellen though. I didn't see the point in complaining about something I couldn't exactly change.

I watched as Jerry was sorted into Hufflepuff, and then shortly after he was seated, June was called up. I had a feeling that she would end up there as well. She was such shy and nice girl. I felt it was the best place she would fit in. The hat didn't sit on her head for very long before it called out:

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

I wished I could have a last name closer to the beginning of the alphabet. I wasn't really that nervous anymore about being in front of everyone, I just wanted to be sorted now. I wanted to know where I would be, and I hoped it would be with Jerry and June. I'd made a promise to her that I'd stick with her, and Jerry seemed as if he could be a potential new friend. It wasn't often that I could talk to a new person as well as I could with him.

It took a while before it got to the P's, and I was relieved when it finally did. I hurried over to the stool and climbed up. Everyone else didn't have much difficulty, but of course I was the only one who could pull off being eight-years-old still. I thought I could hear people "awing" and I hoped so much that Ellen and her friends weren't involved with it. I knew how much she hated it when people commented on her height, but at times she still did it to me.

Hmm seems like a clever mind here. A voice whispered in my ear causing me to jump. You could fit well in Ravenclaw, but I'm not sure you'd be happy there.

I want to go to Hufflepuff with June and Jerry, especially with June. I think she might have a hard time making friends and I promised her I'd be there for her.

Gryffindor seems to be better suited for you. You could achieve so much more there than in Hufflepuff.

I don't think a house will define me that much. If I can do well in Gryffindor, I can do well in Hufflepuff. Please don't sort me there.

Well if you're sure:

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Relieved, I pulled off the hat and handed it to the small elf like teacher (who was taller than me) and then hurried to take my place at Hufflepuff table. I glanced over at Ellen who didn't look too happy to see me there. I knew she'd wanted me to be sorted in another house but Hufflepuff. She was so paranoid that I would follow her around, but I really didn't have the desire to do so. When we'd been younger, I had been her shadow. I could admit to that, however, I didn't really care to follow her anymore. I wasn't as proud of her as I used to be. I still loved her, but I didn't like her life choices. At times I preferred being around her friend Ashley.

"Great to see you Perenge," Jerry said with a grin. "Your sorting took a while."

"It couldn't decide between Hufflepuff or Gryffindor," I lied. "In the end, it decided I was better for Hufflepuff. I guess it makes sense, my mum and sister were sorted here."

"At least all three of us were sorted here," June said shyly. "I was worried that we wouldn't be together."

"Well we are," I assured her.

Something about her made me want to make sure she was always looked after, and I felt that we would have to keep reassuring her too. I didn't mind. I didn't think it was just her shyness either. I just felt protective of her either way, and I wondered if it was because she was a girl.

"Yep, you're stuck with us now Juney," Jerry said to her and he winked.

I noticed she blushed easily too, but she wore a small smile. I wondered if Jerry felt the same way when it came to her. It seemed he likely did. That night at the sorting, he didn't let her fall back into silence, which was something she'd done on the train often. We would notice this and try to engage her. It was hard to believe now, but Ellen had told me that Ashley used to be extremely shy. She'd told me that they used to talk to her any time she went quiet, and they would do their best to boost her confidence. I had a feeling that we'd have to do the same with June. I was guessing Jerry was trying to do the same as I was. She kept a smile on her face all night, and I thought she was even gaining some confidence.

I didn't really pay much attention to the rest of the first-years. I figured I would get to know them better later. I thought it seemed as if we had a big class. I believed there were at least fourteen of us in Hufflepuff alone. From what I'd heard, it was usually on average ten students per house. Ellen apparently had a big class as well, but it was because hers had started after the war. Some people hadn't gone when they were supposed to. I wondered why my class had more students than usual.

I wasn't even sure of most of the people's names. I hadn't really paid attention to who besides June and Jerry had been sorted to Hufflepuff. A group of four boys were talking together, and I wondered if they'd rode together on the train as we had. One boy seemed to be an outsider. He was talking to some of the girls, but I didn't think he was part of a group.

Later on, after we'd been led to the common room by two fifth year prefects, it was to find that he had a bed between Jerry and me.

"What's your name mate?" I asked as he pulled out of a pair of pajamas from his trunk.

"Colin," he answered and then smiled at me. "You're Timmy, right?"

"Yes," I answered wondering how he already knew that.

"Jerry," Jerry said as he joined my side. The other four blokes really weren't paying attention to us.

"I know," Colin answered. "So I guess we'll be sharing a dorm for the next seven years."

"How did you know who we were?" I asked him.

"I remember your sorting," Colin said with a shrug. "I'm usually good with names. I remember most of the people who were sorted here. Besides, you two weren't sitting too far from me with June."

"You do have a good memory," Jerry said with amusement. "I don't remember anyone but Timmy and June's sorting. We met on the train."

"I figured as much," Colin said with a shrug. "She seems alright. I met two girls on the train as well. Tracy and Sally-Anne. I'm not so sure about Tracy, but Sally-Anne is nice enough. She could be good for June."

"Were they sorted in Hufflepuff?" Jerry asked him. "I don't think June will talk to too many people outside of Hufflepuff right now. She's quite shy. She'd fine with us, but I think it will take a while for her to be able to talk to others."

"They're in Hufflepuff too," Colin confirmed. "We sat with a few other people, but they were sorted in the other houses. Tracy might be a bit intimidating for her, but Sally-Anne won't be."

I wondered if this meant that Colin wanted to hang out with us too. In my opinion, the more friends, the better. I was open to meeting as much people as possible. I wanted to be friendly with most of the people in my year, including the Slytherin's. I wanted to be like my sister and have parties with my classmates every year. She went to New Years parties and pool parties.

"We'll introduce you to her tomorrow," Jerry told him.

Ellen had told me that making friends at Hogwarts would be easy, but I hadn't realized that it would be this easy. People seemed so eager. Colin wasn't even questioning a friendship, he was just assuming that we would hang out. I glanced at the other four boys in our dorm. They didn't seem interested in a friendship so far. They weren't paying any attention to us, but perhaps it was just because it was the first night. For the moment I wasn't going to worry about it, but I did want to get along with all the blokes in my dorm.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

The next day, Colin introduced us to the two girls he'd met on the train. Sally-Anne seemed nice enough, but I wasn't sure about Tracy. She seemed quite rude, but at the same time she could be fun to hang out with. I figured it must have been insecurities because she was at a new school. I didn't like how she picked on June. It seemed from day one that she had a problem with her, and I didn't understand why.

"She seems like a trouble maker," Jerry said to me one afternoon shortly after our meeting. "I don't like how she treats June."

"I think we should give her a chance," I said. "I don't like her attitude either but Ellen didn't like her friend Michael's attitude in the beginning. He turned out not to be a bad bloke. He has a bad home life and he took it out on them."

"I doubt it's the case with Tracy," Jerry said. "I don't want to be friends with someone who is going cause me stress. I went to primary school and I could never stand the bullies. I hang out with fun people. It's why I started to joke around with you on the train. I wanted to see if you had a sense of humour. I liked what I saw. June can be fun too when she opens up."

"I'm the same way," I told him. "But Tracy can be fun when she wants to be. I say we just give her a chance for now. If she causes to much drama, we'll stop hanging out with her."

Jerry just gave a small shrug but he didn't answer. I didn't know why it was so important to me to give this bitchy girl a chance. In primary school, I had avoided people like that. Very few people had accepted me because I was different. A few had witnessed my magic even if they hadn't realized it. They thought I was just weird. They didn't exactly make fun of me, but they hadn't gone out of their way to be my friend either. I could only count on one hand the amount of friends I'd had. Tracy reminded me of some of the girls I'd disliked.

Perhaps it was because not too many others wanted to talk to her. I didn't want someone to be left out. I didn't like the idea of some being friendless so far away from home. I wondered if it was the reason for why the others still talked to her. It seemed to me that only Sally-Anne liked her, but she was also the only one who could stop Tracy from going on full bitch mode. Once she reminded her to stop, Tracy could be a fun girl to hang out with. I just wished she'd stay the nice girl she could be.

By the end of the first week, I knew that I had a group of friends. I just wished that my sister could be as nice to me as her friends were. I had absolutely no intentions of following her around, but we were family. I knew that siblings still talked to each other even if they didn't hang out, but anytime I tried to talk to Ellen, she would tell me to away like she had on the train. I tried to pretend that this didn't bother me around my friends, but it really did.

Ashley on the other hand had no problem whatsoever with talk to us. She'd always been good to me though. I still remembered being a small boy and her reading to me when it was time for me to go to bed. It wasn't that Ellen had always been rude to me. She had taken care of me when our parents had divorced, and she had even let me sleep in her room. Other then that though, she ignored me. She didn't like playing with me much like Ashley did.

I hated it when Tracy would insult her for wanting to hang out with a bunch of first years, and even June wasn't so sure about her. She had it in her head that Ashley was in the wrong when it came to her relationship with Ben, and Ellen had the right to be upset. She didn't understand the situation at all. Ellen had told me over the summer that I was too young to get it, but I didn't think so. I knew enough from what mum, Ellen, Ashley and Ellen's diary had told me. I knew it was my sister who was being the idiot here. I could understand June's reasoning however. You had to know the situation.

I was very satisfied with my classes as well. As time went on, I found that it came so naturally to me, and so I couldn't understand why my sister struggled so much. Of course I knew she purposely slacked off, but I could even remember her complaining at times that it was hard to learn some spells. It only took me a few tries and I got it. June was the same way. The rest of my friends could usually get it too after a while. Tracy likely could, but she never tried hard enough and I could see my sister's attitude in her. She only wanted to do magic and not school work. No one wanted to do school work, but it was important. You had to take the bad with the good, so why couldn't she understand that?

"I wish I could be a brown noser," Tracy said one evening as she threw down her quill. "But I just couldn't live with myself."

"It's not being a brown noser if you want to do well in school," I told her. "I want to make up for my sister. She only got three OWLs last year."

"I don't understand you and June," Tracy said with a sigh. "Well, I suppose I can understand your point, but still. I just can't get into it the same way you two do. I mean, you're even competing with each other for good grades."

"It's fun," I told her.

And it really was. I enjoyed the competition that I had with June. We'd started it during the first week of school when we'd noticed how quick we could learn new spells. We proceeded to grades after that. Maybe it wasn't anyone elses idea of fun, but for us it was. It also helped bring June out of her shell even more. Everyday I could see a change in her. The only problem was Tracy. She would constantly insult June, and she would fall back into that shy girl again. I was getting fed up with it, and I knew Jerry was too.

It all came to a head at the end of September. Ashley had invited all six of us to Ben's coming of age party. She knew that I would want to be there because I liked and respected Ben so much, but she didn't want me to be the only first year there, so she let my friends come as well. I was relieved about this because I knew I would feel like the odd one out at a party full of sixteen and seventeen year olds, especially when my own sister wouldn't talk to me. I had to wonder if she was even invited considering she still wasn't talking to Ashley or Ben.

"Let's play wizarding tag again," Tracy said.

Wizarding tag was a game where you had to freeze if the person who was 'it' caught you. The only way you could move again was if someone crawled between your legs. It was basically the same as frozen tag in the muggle world, so I didn't know why it was actually called wizarding tag. I would understand if you used your wands for it, but you didn't. It was a fun game however. I always tried to move when the person who was it turned away. When you had a bunch of people playing, they didn't always notice. It was harder when it was just the six of us. I wondered if some of the older students would play. Would they be too old and cool to play?

I contemplated this as Tracy who was it caught me. I froze, but the moment she turned her back. I tried to move. However, she saw me as she turned back again.

"You can't move! You're frozen!" She shouted at me.

I went back into the frozen position, but I was distracted as I saw Ashley approach June. For some reason, June wasn't playing. She was just watching us. I didn't understand why because normally she liked tag. Perhaps I could ask Ashley if she wanted to invite some people to play. Her and June were talking, and then the two of them walked off. Where were they going? Why was Ashley taking June away but not the rest of us? Sally-Anne ran over to crawl between my legs so I could move.

"Where is June going?" Sally-Anne asked as soon as I moved.

"Don't know," I said.

"Who cares?" Tracy asked. "She didn't even want to play anyway."

"I find that strange," Jerry said and he glared over at Tracy. "She always likes to play."

Tracy just gave a small shrug. "Well, she didn't want to play this time. She just wanted to watch us play and watch the party."

"But where did Ashley take her? Did she go back to the castle?" Colin asked. "Maybe she was feeling left out or something."

"Maybe we should go find her," Sally-Anne said.

We didn't have to wait for long before Ashley returned, but without June. She didn't look too happy, and I wondered what was wrong.

"Timmy, can you come here a moment please?" She called as she approached us.

"I'll be right back. I'll ask her where she took June," I said. "Maybe something was wrong."

I headed over to Ashley quickly.

"Where did you take June?" I asked her. "I saw her go off with you. She didn't go back to the castle did she?"

"No, I introduced her to some people, it's always nice to meet more friends," she answered me and I felt relief. Of course she had. Likely, she had seen June all alone and she wanted her to make more friends. Chances are she'd introduced her to the three third years I always saw her talking to. She liked helping out the shy kids after all. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about," she added now sounding stern. "June told me that Tracy told her that she couldn't play with you and that she didn't belong in your group. She said that you lot only talk to her because you feel sorry for her. I'd hate to believe that Timmy considering I've known you since you were a little boy. I really hope that's not true, and it's just Tracy being a bitch."

I felt anger go through me as she said this. It usually took a lot to anger me. Normally I was quite easy-going, but all I wanted to do was hex Tracy with some of the spells I'd learned. I didn't care if she was a girl. I was so sick and tired of the way she treated June. I was not going to tolerate it anymore, and I hated that she gave Ashley the impression that I would do something so horrible.

"I didn't know Tracy had said that," I assured her. "She told me that June didn't want to play," and then I turned to look to where my friends were still standing. "Hey Tracy! Get over here!" I shouted.

Tracy walked over to us while the rest of the group followed.

"Did you tell June she couldn't play with us? Did you tell her that she doesn't belong in our group?" I demanded the moment they reached us.

I could see anger appear on Jerry's face as well, and he looked at Tracy with hatred. Sally-Anne and Colin also looked really annoyed.

"No of course not," Tracy answered and she glared at Ashley. "Did she tell you that? I bet she's lying or June told her to lie! June just wants attention that's all."

I felt even angrier as she said this. I knew neither girl would lie about this, and June certainly wouldn't. She hated attention and I was about to say this, but Sally Anne spoke up instead.

"No she doesn't, June hates attention. She's too shy for that."

"I don't know what you have against that girl, but she's a nice girl. It's not right to tell her that no one likes her and that you only hang out with her because you feel sorry for her," Ashley told Tracy angrily.

"If she doesn't like it then why isn't she sticking up for herself?" Tracy demanded.

"She doesn't know I'm here, I introduced her to some friends and I came here to talk to you. That's no way to treat someone," Ashley replied. "If you're too immature to treat someone right then maybe you shouldn't even be here. I think you should go back to the castle right now."

I hoped Tracy would go back to the castle. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be her friend anymore. I was getting to the point where I didn't care if she was friendless or not. June and Jerry came first before her. I almost wanted to tell her to stop hanging out with us. It reminded me so much of what Ellen had told me about Michael, so I figured we could give her once more chance. If she kept it up though, I was done.

"Well we didn't want to be here anyway," Tracy said. "We'll go back up to the castle and have more fun there! Right?" She added to us, but no one moved. We all folded our arms defiantly.

"I'm not going back to the castle," Sally-Anne said. "She didn't say we had to, just you!"

"I don't believe this!" Tracy said. "You can't make me go back to the castle. You're not a prefect or a teacher, so there!"

I almost smiled at this. For someone who was insistent that she was the most mature out of us, she certainly didn't act like it.

"You're right, I can't," Ashley told her. "But honestly Timmy," she said turning to look at me now, "I don't see why you hang out with this girl. You're all here because I was nice enough to invite you. Tracy, you're twelve years old so maybe you should act like it."

And without another word, she turned and walked off.

"What a bitch!" Tracy said.

I couldn't hold back anymore. She has just insulted two people that I deeply cared for.

"She's a bitch?" I asked. "You are nothing but a back-stabbing insecure bitch! How can you treat June like that? She has never been anything but nice to you! I can't believe you told her that I just hang out with her because I feel sorry for her! Get this through your head, Tracy! I hang out with you for Sally-Anne and Colin because I like them. June is my friend before you. Don't you dare even insult Ashley either! She's been nothing but a second big sister to me!"

"You aren't my friend," Jerry stated. "You are just an annoying little bitch who is part of this group for some reason," and then he looked at me and muttered: "This is why I didn't want to hang out with her."

"I was wrong," I admitted in a whisper. "I wanted to give her a chance. Ellen told me about Michael, and he is an okay bloke now. I figured she would be the same way."

"I like June, and I have never hung out with her because I felt sorry for her," Sally-Anne told Tracy while we were whispering. "She probably thinks that I don't like her now. Thanks a lot Tracy. I am always defending you, and this is the way you pay me back?"

"I've never felt that way either," Colin said with a frown. "In fact, I've hung out with you for Sally-Anne, and then for this lot."

Tracy stared at all of us. She looked as if she were ready to start crying. She was blinking very quickly.

"All of you hate me?" She asked with disbelief.

"We don't hate you," Sally-Anne. "At least I don't, but I think that it was very low of you to make June feel bad. Just because you don't like her, it doesn't mean the rest of us don't. We all know you dislike her, but that doesn't mean that you should drag us into it."

"I've wanted to like you," Colin said. "I want to be your friend, but you make it hard sometimes. You can be fun when you aren't being a bitch. Why not be that girl you were on the train? Or the girl that you can be when we play games or hang out in the common room. You're not impressing anyone."

"I hate you," Jerry told her.

"I'm willing to give you another chance," I told her. "But you have to apologize to June. When we go back to the common room, I want you to talk to her, and I want you to make an effort to be nice to her. If you ever pull a stunt like this again, we're done."

"I'm sorry," Tracy said sounding humbled for the first time since I'd met her. "I'll make an effort, but it is true that I dislike her. But... well, you lot are willing to give me another chance so I will give her a chance."

"That's all we can ask for," Sally-Anne answered. "I do want to be your friend Tracy, but I don't want to be friends with someone who is a bully either."

"Same here," Colin said. "It's not right to make fun of a shy girl like that."

"It's going to take a lot before you prove to me that you're likeable," Jerry told her. "But if everyone else wants to hang out with you, I'll deal with it."

"Now let's just enjoy the rest of the party," I said.

I had a feeling it wasn't going to be this simple. I'd been hanging out with Tracy for a month, I didn't think her attitude could change overnight. I could see June sitting with the three third years who I often seen Ashley with. Tracy could as well, and I could see her eyeing the girl with dislike. She liked us, but she didn't like June. She was only going to be nice to her for our sake, but how long could it possibly last?


	3. Chapter 3

chapter three

Things seemed to go smoothly after that night. The next day, my sister finally came over to talk to me after a month. We'd never gone so long without talking before, even when she'd been at Hogwarts. Generally we would write at least twice a week. I hated not talking to her, and it said a lot when her friends were willing to talk to me more than she did.

So when she walked over to sit with us, I couldn't help but ask: "What are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to talk to my brother?" She asked as she sat down.

"Well you've been ignoring me since I got here," I told her. "Any time I've tried to talk to you, you tell me to go away."

"I know, and I am sorry," Ellen said. I was surprised that she would apologize so quickly. I figured for sure she would argue about it. "I know I've been a bitch for the last couple of months. I nearly ruined my friendships. I shouldn't have been ignoring you. I was just worried that you were going to follow me around everywhere."

"I have my own friends," I stated and I then I waved my hand at my group of friends. "I have no interest in hanging out with you all the time, but it would be nice if we could talk to each other sometimes. Ashley has gotten to know my friends before you have. She even invited me to Ben's party."

"Yes I know she did," Ellen answered in a dry voice. "I get the feeling she is going to keep doing it too. She does it with the third years."

I could tell that she wasn't too happy about this. She likely didn't want me at the same parties that she would be at. However, if I was invited, I was going to go and I didn't care what she thought.

"So introduce me to your friends," Ellen continued.

"It's about time," Tracy spoke up. "I'm Tracy, this is Sally-Anne, this is Colin, this is Jerry and that's June."

"Yes I've heard of you," Ellen said to her and gave Tracy a look of dislike. "And I was asking Timmy to introduce me, not you."

"Apparently you've only heard bad things about me," Tracy said. "And I bet it was Ashley who said those things. You don't know me personally, so you can't judge me."

"I heard you were being mean to June," Ellen said. "Granted, I don't know you, and I should get to know you before I judge, but I've known girls like you. I have some like that in my year, and I know Alana had to deal with it in her own year. So if you want me to like you, you'll have to show me why I should."

"You've already made your mind up about me," Tracy stated.

I sighed. Both my sister and Tracy were stubborn people, and this could go on for a while. Ellen wasn't going to let a twelve-year-old girl talk to her like that, and Tracy hated to back down. The only reason she was humbled the night before was because she didn't want to lose us. It was why I knew that things weren't going to be so easy. I wondered just how long this girl could continue to hang out with us. Would she end up a loner, or would Sally-Anne stay her friend? I already knew Colin wouldn't hang out with her.

As I figured, Ellen and Tracy went back and forth.

"Listen to me little girl," Ellen finally said. "I am here to talk to my brother, not you. I'd like to know how his first year has been going so far."

"Maybe you shouldn't have ignored him all month then," Tracy said. "And I am not a little girl. I turned twelve recently."

"I apologized to him," Ellen said. "And I don't give a damn if you just turned twelve. You are still a little girl to me."

"I'm almost the same height as you," Tracy said.

"You're still four years younger," Ellen said. "You're going to cause drama for Timmy aren't you?"

"Just like you have with your friends?" Tracy asked. "Didn't you try to break up your two best friends? Didn't you try to-"

"Would you two stop it!?" I asked not being able to take it anymore.

"I'm not going to take attitude from a first year," Ellen told me.

"And I am not going to take it from someone just because she is older," Tracy said. "She decided the moment that she came over here that she didn't like me. I tried to be pleasant to her, and she has been rude to me from the start just because of Ashley."

"Don't talk about Ashley like that," Ellen said. "I've been dealing with girls like you since my first year. Take a word of advice little girl, start being nice, otherwise you're not going to have any friends. Now can I please visit my brother in peace," and she eyed the rest of my friends. "I haven't even had the chance to get to know the rest of this lot because of you."

"Whatever," Tracy said and I felt relieved. That was her passive aggressive way of backing down.

"So, now that is over and done with," Ellen said. "Why don't the rest of you introduce yourselves to me? I'd like to get to know you. I get the feeling that Timmy will be inviting you over, so we'll be seeing each other quite a bit. Besides, I really should spend some time with the brat," she added and winked at me with a smile.

I just felt happy that things were moving on now. I really did want Ellen to like my friends. I wasn't sure what was going to happen with Tracy, but I even wanted them to get along right now. I glanced over at Tracy who appeared to be pouting. Ellen was engaged with Jerry at the moment, and I could tell that she definitely liked him. He had that way with people though. I didn't know too many people who actually disliked the bloke.

"So that was your sister," Jerry said after she left. "She doesn't seem so bad now."

"Now that she is being friendly yes," I told him. "I just hope she keeps it up, and I wish she would cut it down on the PDA," I added as I noticed that she was now making out with her boyfriend.

"All the older kids are like that," Tracy said. "I walked in on that Jared bloke basically undressing a girl in a corridor. This is a huge castle. If you want privacy, it really isn't that hard to find it."

"I walked in on the fifth prefect with a girl," Colin said with a frown. "I mean, I know they were in the dorms but still. Someone told me he was down in the fifth year dorms, so I went in there to ask him something. I wish I hadn't. Couldn't they at least put a sock on the door? I know it's what they do in the muggle world."

"Blimey," Jerry said. "I don't think I could recover from that. I'll never be like that with girls. I'll always make sure we go somewhere private."

"Are you going to be one of those people who snog random girls?" Sally-Anne asked him and Jerry shrugged.

"If I am not dating someone maybe," he answered. "There is nothing wrong with it. I just don't think people should be doing it in the common room."

"I think I'll talk to Ellen about that," I said. "But I doubt she'll listen. She'll say I am too young to understand or something."

"Probably," Colin said with amusement. "Let's go outside. Maybe we can actually get by the lake today without anyone bothering us."

Usually when we tried to sit by the lake, some of the older years would make us leave. They thought they were entitled by the spot more than we were even if there was plenty of room. I hated being a first year at times. I couldn't wait until I was at least a third year. They were at least allowed to go to Hogsmeade, and no one cared if they tried alcohol. People watched every move the first and second years made. Ellen had told me that I'd have more freedom once I got to Hogwarts, and part of it was true but anyone in fifth year and older bossed you around as well. It was annoying.


	4. Chapter 4

chapter four

Mum wrote to me regularly to tell me how proud of me she was. She was glad to see that I was taking my school work seriously, but she didn't like the fact that I had already been in detention a few times. I couldn't help it when some of the Slytherin's were idiots. Sometimes Jerry and me would end up getting into duels with them. A lot of the time it was over one of the girls as well. I felt protective of them, even Tracy at times.

I had a feeling that she was still bothering June, but she wasn't open about it around us. The thing was, June wouldn't admit it to us. In a group of friends, everyone had their own best friends. I felt that Jerry and June were my best friends, so it frustrated me that she wouldn't tell me if Tracy was bothering her. At times, I wondered if she saw Alana as a best friend instead of me or Jerry. She was starting to spend a lot of time with the older girl.

"I don't want to give up on Tracy," June told me one afternoon when I questioned her about this.

"Even if she bothers you?" I asked her.

"It's not as bad as it was, and she always seems to catch herself. I think she really is trying Timmy. Although, Alana, Rory and Derek are getting tired of her hanging around them. They don't like her, and they don't want to be her friend. They've told her as much," June answered. "The thing is, I understand why Ashley helps out the shy kids now. She helped out Alana because she didn't want her to be friendless, and she did the same thing for me. I mean, I already had friends, but she still understood me. Tracy might not be shy, but it would be awful to be so far away from home without anyone to talk to. You have to admit that she is more tame than she was. People can't change overnight. I think she is always going to be a bitch, but when she isn't being one, she can be fun. Even I can admit to that."

"I suppose you have a point there," I said.

"She also does have her uses when it comes to certain people," June added. "She doesn't hold back her opinion. Those two Slytherin girls backed off on you when they were bothering you about your parents. Her heart can be in the right place at times."

I knew she had a point there as well. So Tracy remained apart of our group despite her annoying flaws, but then again, that happened with anyone. We all had something that was annoying. As much as I liked June, she did still get really uncomfortable and shy with us. Ellen told me that it would probably be a while before that changed. She'd gone through the same with Ashley who had once been whiny, passive-aggressive and a bit clingy. Knowing her now, you'd never know she was shy or any of the rest of those things.

I did want to meet June's older friends as well. Being friends with older blokes could be fun. Maybe they could help us get some alcohol. I knew they didn't want Tracy around, so I wondered if they would be opposed to meeting the rest of us as well.

"I could arrange a meeting," June told me when I brought this up one early November evening. "They don't like Tracy because of her attitude, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind meeting the rest of you lot. I'll talk to Alana about it sometime. I expect we will be hanging out with them loads anyway. Ashley says she'll be letting us go to her parties, and they will be there too. Let me talk to them."

As it turned out, the third years had no problem whatsoever with meeting the rest of us. They weren't too happy that Tracy would be involved, but they didn't care about meeting the rest of us. June and Alana decided we could arrange to have some study meetings at times. The third years could help us out with some of the work since they'd already done it, and we could use the time to get to know each other. Alana apparently sometimes tutored people in Transfiguration.

"That's all we're going to do?" Tracy asked when June proposed this to us. "We're just going to study. I'm all for hanging out with them, but come one. Can't we do anything fun."

"Well, you don't have to go if you don't want to," June told her sounding indifferent. "I'm sure that's not all we're going to do eventually, but right now we are going to study. Anyone who is opposed to it doesn't have to go."

It made me wonder if this was Alana's intention. She knew that Tracy wouldn't want to just sit around and study, so perhaps she thought if she picked doing homework over just hanging out in the grounds or something, Tracy would turn it down. However, no matter how boring it seemed, she decided to join us in the library when we all went down to meet the third years.

I instantly liked Rory and Derek. They reminded me somewhat of a tamer Jerry. I could tell he liked them as well. Even though we were supposed to be studying, our homework was forgotten as we began joking around and getting to know each other. I'd always felt that there would be a huge difference between thirteen and eleven, but there really wasn't. I felt like I could be talking to someone my own age.

The only one who wasn't having a good time was Tracy. She liked to try and dominate most conversations, but no one would let her. The third years didn't like her, and they wouldn't allow her to pull the same kind of things she usually tried with us.

"You lot will love the New Years parties," Derek told me. "I don't know how much longer she is going to have them unfortunately. It will be this year, and then next year and then they'll all be on their own."

"Yes, Ashley says she and Ben are going to travel when they leave Hogwarts," Alana said. "So it's probably only going to be this year and next year. Maybe we can start having our own though. Someone should keep the tradition up."

"Do you think you could help us sneak the alcohol then?" I asked. "Anytime we try and get near it, the older kids always stop us. They don't stop you."

"Not at the New Years party," Rory answered. "We've promised Ashley and her mother that we won't drink until we're fifteen when we're at them. Maybe even next year we might be allowed. Ashley told us that if we are ever caught with it, we won't be allowed to back. It's not worth the risk."

"Well then in the common room then," Jerry said.

"I don't know," Derek said slowly. "We waited until the end of last year to start. I know it can be annoying, but I really do think the older kids are right when they say at least first years shouldn't drink. The first time you're drunk is hard to handle. I'm sorry to sound like some stern older kid, but I just don't think it's a good idea. If you lot can promise to wait at least a year or so, we can help you out."

"I suppose we could," Colin answered. "But we really are curious about it. There has to be a reason why the older kids like it so much, and even adults. I know all about hang overs. I've seen my older brother hung over, but he seems to have fun when he drinks."

"We felt the same way," Rory told us. "I remember watching the older kids as a firsty and wondering what all the fuss was about, but I didn't want to drink any quite yet."

"Especially because it can make you do stupid things," Alana said. "I know of someone who shagged someone else when they were drunk. This person likely wouldn't have done it if they were sober. It was the first time that they got that drunk and they were feeling vulnerable."

"I think I know who you are talking about," I said. "And I think the bloke took advantage of her."

As young as I had been, I'd heard about Ashley shagging up with a bloke named Jared. I had found out about it the summer before last. I'd heard Ashley and Ellen talking about it. I knew about the birds and the bees. I knew about shagging and that sometimes people did it just for fun. I had a hard time believing that Ashley would do it sober with someone so randomly, even though apparently she did afterwards. From what I'd heard, she had thought that no one else would want her. Jared was the type who randomly shagged girls, and I truly believed he had used Ashley's insecurity and the fact that her inhibitions were lowered against her.

"She says that he didn't," Alana told me. "I'll take her word for it, but her situation is the reason why I've always been careful about being drunk, and why I think you lot should wait. Not that I believe you're going to shag up, and I certainly hope that it's the last thing on your minds, it certainly is the last on my mind, but still. There are other stupid things you can do when you're drunk."

"This is certainly juicy," Tracy said. "Who is this girl?"

"Never you mind," Alana said.

"Well I'll find out eventually if I ask around. I bet it's something that is known," Tracy said. "Things like that get around Hogwarts."

"Well you're not hearing it from me," Alana insisted. "I shouldn't have even brought it up as an example with you around. I should have known you'd only care about that."

"If someone is stupid enough to shag up when they're drunk, they deserve to be gossiped about," Tracy said.

"Oh please," Alana said. "This is coming from you of all people. I've seen you snogging all about the castle already. I bet you're going to be one of those girls who shags up by the time you're my age."

"There is nothing wrong with snogging," Tracy said. "People our age snog. Don't me you're some kind of prude who thinks that a little kissing is bad."

"There isn't anything wrong with snogging at all. I just think you are a bit of a hypocrite is all. That was her first time shagging, and I honestly believe you are going to be one of those girls who will shag different boys, just as right now you snog different boys. I can see you being one of those girls who will just give it away to just anyone," Alana told her.

"Just like your friend did?" Tracy asked. "If I have to guess since both you and Timmy know her, and she was insecure, it's likely Ashley who did it. She'd be dumb enough to-"

"Haven't I already told you not to insult her?" I asked angrily just as Alana said: "Don't you dare call her dumb!"

"Oh, so it's okay to attack me for asking a simple question, but it's not okay for me to call it as it is?" Tracy asked. "You're trying to put all the blame on the bloke when Ashley was there too. I'm sure even she would admit it was stupid to do that, and even you're sitting there and warning us about the effects of alcohol. So don't attack me for stating the truth. I'll say a lot about Ashley, even if the rest of you disagree, but I know that she would agree with me."

"She'd agree it was stupid of her, but she wouldn't agree with shaming someone for doing something they regret," Alana told her. "And that is what you're trying to do. The only reason you want to know who we're talking about is so that you can bother her, or even gossip about her. That's the only thing you've contributed to the conversation."

"And so it's fair for you to sit there in judgment of me for something I haven't even done yet?" Tracy asked her. "Snogging is fun, but I haven't decided when I am going to shag someone. I haven't even had that thought enter my mind yet. I'm happy with the random kissing, and so are the boys. I'm not hurting anyone. So instead of sitting there and judging me, but getting angry with me for doing the same to Ashley, maybe you should really think about what you're talking about Alana. You're being a hypocrite right now."

And angrily, she grabbed her things and shoved them in her bag. Without another word, she got up and stalked off without looking back. We all stared after her, and part of me felt a little bad because for once she actually had a point. I didn't agree that she should be shaming Ashley, but Alana probably shouldn't have called her out on the snogging.

"Alana," Sally-Anne began who had been quiet most of the evening, "I like you, I really do. You seem nice. I know Tracy can be a bitch, but for the first time she actually does have a point. You really shouldn't have shamed her for snogging random boys when a lot of people do it."

"I know," Alana admitted which surprised me. "Maybe I'll apologize to her later, but she makes me so angry. I know the situation with Ashley, and from the way she was acting, I do think she wanted to make fun of her about it. Ashley also doesn't sleep around. I could be very wrong about her, but I have a feeling Tracy will be one of those people who will."

"But we don't know that yet," Sally-Anne pointed out. "I know why you stood up for Ashley. I just feel that this time Tracy didn't deserve this. She does need people to call her out on her crap sometimes, but you could have got your point across another way."

"I'll talk to her later," Alana said. "She shouldn't have called Ashley dumb though. Not too many people know about that situation. It just made me so angry. It would be different if Ashley slept around with random boys a lot back then, but she didn't. She slept with one boy that she wasn't in a relationship with. Other then that, she was with Denver her ex-boyfriend and now Ben."

"I don't know," Jerry said. "I think it is something that she needed to hear, because I also believe she will be like that too. I don't mind random snogging either, but something about her screams slag."

"Maybe, maybe not," June spoke up. "I don't like that she said about Ashley either, but it's not fair to make assumptions either. People do it to me all the time because of my shyness, so I know what it's like to have people assume things about you."

"I know," Jerry said. "But Tracy is the type of person who needs to be taken down a peg or two at times. We all know the entire reason she spoke up was so she could gossip. I've hung out with her for almost three months now. I know what she is like. So even if she hasn't shagged, and she isn't planning on it, I still think she needed to hear that. She needs someone to call her out or else she is going to think she can pull an attitude all the time. You heard her; she was going to go around and find out who you were talking about. It stopped her in her tracks, and so no, I don't think Alana went too far. Unless you'd rather Ashley be humiliated about all that."

"Well actually she already has been," Alana said. "People do know all about it. Another girl in Ashley's year called her out on it. Some people like to throw that in her face, including her own friends. She doesn't need a first year girl to go around finding out that gossip to throw in her face. Now that Tracy knows, she probably will do it if Ashley tells her off. I regret bringing it up. I just wanted to explain why I think you lot should wait a little bit. Ashley was fifteen when she made that mistake. You're all eleven and twelve. I will talk to Tracy later because I probably shouldn't have made that assumption, but I also don't like for someone to insult my friend. That girl has helped me out so much over the last couple of years. I don't like people bad-mouthing her."

"Same here," I said. "I've known her since I was a little kid."

"Well I don't like it too much either," June said. "I just think that we were being too harsh on Tracy too."

"We can discuss this at length, and we're just going to keep coming back to the same conclusion," Rory said. "So let's just stop now. To be honest, I don't give a damn if Tracy was offended."

"Same here," Derek said. "I like the rest of you. You all seem quite nice, but I can't stand that girl. I don't like hanging out with her, and if she is going to come around when we all hang out, she is going to have to learn to keep her mouth shut about certain things. Now back to the original topic. If you lot can wait at least a year, yes, we will help you get drinks, but only in moderation. It's what we did. When it comes to alcohol, you have to develop a tolerance to it. None of us are experts at it yet. We're still building up our own tolerance levels."

"Exactly, it will probably take a while before we reach the level that Ashley and her friends are at," Rory said.

"I don't think Ellen is really that tolerant with alcohol," I said thinking about her many hang-overs.

"Or Michael," Alana added.

"He's better than he used to be," Derek said. "But yes, not even they can handle their alcohol at times."

"So going by that logic, shouldn't we start early?" Colin asked. "That way we could build up our tolerance?"

"Do what you want," Derek told him. "But don't expect us to help you this year. Look, we're not trying to be prudes here."

"No, we get it," I told him, at least I understood why they didn't want to help. I just didn't like it.

I knew Ellen wouldn't want me drinking at this age either, but it was hard not to be curious. I did know that she had waited until second year to try as well. Ashley had waited until the end of her third year, but had gotten drunk for the first time in her fourth, which had led to her incident. So I could understand Colin's point too.

"I suppose we can wait," Jerry finally said. "But I can't wait until our every move isn't watched by a prefect or a teacher. Even now we're being watched," and he frowned over at a group of fifth year Hufflepuff's who were staring at us.

"I think that's more because of Tracy's outburst," Alana said as she too glanced over at the fifth years. "I expect they're annoyed by the noise. They're fifth years after all. Ashley said that the fifth year is brutal."

"It is," I agreed. "Ellen failed most of her OWLs."

"Howard said half the girls had break downs," Colin agreed. "I remember some of the work load he brought home last year. He did quite well though. I only hope I can do that well."

"I'm not looking forward to it," Rory said. "They've already piled on the work with the extra classes we're taking this year. I'd hate to think of the amount we'll have to do in two years."

"I want to take all the extra classes," June suddenly spoke up.

"You don't want to do that," Derek told her. "We're already struggling with three extra ones. You don't really need to take classes like Muggle Studies anyway."

"I'd still like to try," June said. "I like to challenge myself."

"Give yourself time to think about it," Alana told her. "We've noticed the difference already, but it just gets harder."

"And the amount of break downs people have in their fifth year," Colin added to her. "June, I know that you want to prove yourself, but you really should think about it. Talk to my brother, or even Ashley or Timmy's sister before you do any of that. They all understand what it's like to do OWL year."

"Or even my brother," Jerry added. "He's living through it right now."

I glanced over at June with worry. I believed part of it was because of Tracy. June did enjoy a challenge, but sometimes Tracy would make comments about how she worked so hard, and it probably wouldn't be good enough. I didn't know why June took the comments so seriously considering her and me were doing so well compared to our friends. It was as if June wanted Tracy to like her so much that she would do anything to make her like her. I hoped in a year we could convince her not to take the extra classes. I noticed Alana was also looking at her with worry.


	5. Chapter 5

chapter five

Christmas came quite quickly, and it was hard for be to believe that my first term was already over. I was a quarter of a way through my first year. Soon I'd be starting my second year. Now I understood what Ellen meant when she said that time went by quickly at Hogwarts. It felt like took forever for me to start school, but now that I was there, time was going by so quickly.

The train ride home was full of talk about our holidays, whether or not we'd get together over the holidays, and the New Years party. All of my friends had been given permission to go as long as no alcohol was involved. There would be alcohol, but Ellen and Ashley had both given us a strict lecture about it. I honestly didn't want to break that trust, so I was planning on touching it, and I was sure my friends felt the same way.

"How about this," I said. "Mum is going to take Ellen and me to Ashley's anyway, so maybe everyone can come over for a couple of days before then. I'm sure she won't mind taking a few extra kids as well. Talk to your parents about it, and then that's when we can all hang out."

"Sounds good to me," Jerry answered. "My holidays are going to be so boring. My brother has already told me not to talk to him because he'll busy with homework, and I bet my sister has all of her giggly friends over."

"Howard isn't too happy I am going you know," Colin said. "But he said as long as I don't bother or him or touch the alcohol, it's fine. I don't think he wants his brother at the same party he is going to."

"Same here with Ellen," I said. "She said she completely disagrees with me going, and she hates how Ashley always feels the need to involve us, but she'll let us go anyway as long as we leave her alone."

"You do have to admit it's odd that a seventeen year old wants eleven and twelve year olds at her party," Tracy spoke up but we were all used to her saying this. She constantly brought it up. We used to argue with her about it, and at a time even Jerry had agreed with her but he didn't anymore. I understood, and so did my friends why she did it. So when Tracy said this again, we all ignored her, even June.

"There shouldn't be a problem with me going over for a few days," Sally-Anne said instead. "Mum and dad aren't home much anyways and my brother is staying at school, so I am going to quite lonely."

"You can come over for a few days at my place too if you want," Tracy told her. "My parents won't mind. I thought you said that your dad was all upset about you going to Hogwarts though. How come he won't be spending time with you?"

"He'll try, but he does travel for work quite a bit and mum has all these social affairs that she drags him to," Sally-Anne answered. "It's why he was so upset. He doesn't see me much as it is, and then I'm off at school. The Christmas holidays are always extra busy."

"And then there is June who isn't wanted at home," Tracy said. "I can only invite one friend though, sorry."

"I am so wanted at home," June said frowning at her. "My parents just want me to make the most of my gift, and I didn't want to go to your place anyway. I am probably going to Alana's for a few days too."

"Ooh the meeting of the boring shy kids. I am surprised Ashley won't be there too," Tracy said as she rolled her eyes.

Tracy had resented Alana since the outburst in the library. She still tried to hang out with the third years because of the boys, but she disliked Alana a lot. I found out that Tracy could hold a grudge for a very long time. There were a few people who had angered her who she hated, even if it had happened in September.

"Yep, so it's a good thing you're not going," June said obviously not wanting to fight at the moment. "Anyway, it should be fine with mum and dad if I go over to your place Timmy. I can't wait for the New Years party, it's going to be so much fun."

Jerry was planning on setting some fireworks off at midnight. They were indoor fireworks, and I was sure it wouldn't be a problem at all. It was all going to be people from Hogwarts and they couldn't set things on fire. George Weasley had perfected them because sometimes there had been fires set off my careless people. Jerry said we would make sure that we didn't set them off near anything that could catch fire anyway. He brought this up now.

"Are you really sure that's a good idea?" Sally-Anne asked. "Doesn't her mum and step father invite their own friends too?"

"So?" Colin asked. "I'm sure they'll just think it's a kid prank. I bet they've seen it before anyway. I think it's brilliant. Muggles won't automatically assume that it's magic."

"Exactly," Jerry said. "There is no way in all the years that Ashley has been at Hogwarts that they haven't seen it. Think about how Michael can be sometimes."

"Don't tell me you're being some kind of prude," Tracy said to Sally-Anne. "No one will care."

"How am I being a prude?" Sally-Anne asked. "A prude isn't even- never mind, I just hope you lot are right, but I don't want anything to do with it."

"Same here," June agreed.

"It's just going to be us anyway," Jerry said meaning Colin and me.

"Me too," Tracy said.

"No you don't need to be involved," Jerry told her.

Tracy glared at him, but for once didn't protest. I was surprised, but perhaps she didn't want to argue before the holidays as well either. I didn't really understand what Sally-Anne and June were so worried about. I didn't know much about the parties, but I was sure they had to have set fireworks off at some point in the five years they'd celebrated.

"You probably wish you could invite Claudia," Colin said to me with a wink.

Claudia was a very pretty girl in Slytherin who I snogged sometimes. I didn't think I could get into the random snogging thing, but Jerry had convinced me to try. I didn't know too many girls who I wanted to snog, but then I'd found out from Sally-Anne that Claudia, who was my partner in Herbology had a crush on me. I made my intentions clear that I didn't want a girlfriend, and she seemed fine with it.

I couldn't imagine myself having a serious girlfriend at my age, but now I knew what all the fuss about was when it came to kissing. I just didn't do it in the open like the older students did. I doubted anyone outside of my friends knew about it. She wasn't the first girl I had kissed. I had the year before with a girl in my class, but I hadn't really understood it then. We'd only kissed a few times and then we never did again. It was different with Claudia though. I really liked kissing her.

"She's Slytherin," Tracy said making a face. "I can't believed you'd kiss her."

"My brother is a Slytherin," Colin said to her angrily. "Not all Slytherin's are like that. Ever since the war, the older kids have been trying to get rid of the old House prejudices. You're not helping when you say things like that."

"And what about those idiots that you lot sometimes fight with," Tracy asked him.

"There are idiots in every house," I pointed out to her. "What about that Ravenclaw girl? I don't remember her name, but it's the one you're always fighting with. Ashley has been telling me for years that we can't judge based on the Houses."

"Still, I don't understand what you see in Claudia," Tracy said seeming to ignore everything we'd just said. "She's just a pretty face. There are more substantial girls out there. She isn't very bright at all."

"I'm just snogging her," I told her.

There was truth to her claims that Claudia wasn't very bright. She was a very nice girl however, and she was very pretty. I didn't care about her grades. I thought it was worse to be smart and not to live up to your potential than to average but work hard. Tracy was a very smart girl, but she refused to do school work, and that to me was a turn off. At times I didn't understand why she was in Hufflepuff.

"You snogged some second year Slytherin," Sally-Anne said to Tracy.

"Yes, but there is nothing wrong with him," Tracy said.

"I think you're just jealous of pretty girls," June said. "You seem to dislike any girl who is prettier than you."

"Which must be most girls," Jerry said earning a glare from Tracy.

"I am not ugly," she said. "And if Ashley can get a handsome boy like Ben, than I most certainly can. She's hideous."

"She is not!" June said angrily.

"Even you said she isn't pretty," Tracy said. "I heard you telling Sally-Anne that."

"But she isn't hideous!" June said. "And I never doubted why Ben is with her. He loves her and he has for years."

"They think they're in love, but they're not," Tracy replied. "Just the same as Ellen and Keith and anyone else who thinks they're in love. Come on, they are teenagers. Do you honestly believe people marry their Hogwarts sweethearts? Obviously there is something about Ashley that Ben likes, but seventeen year olds don't know anything about love!"

"But Ben bought her-" June began but then stopped. "Well he buys her really expensive gifts."

"So?" Tracy asked. "And what were you going to say June? You almost revealed something."

"A necklace," I answered quickly. "Didn't you see that necklace. I bet that cost years of allowance."

"The Hoofers are a rich family," Tracy answered with a shrug.

Tracy had been about to say that Ben had bought Ashley an engagement ring. He had bought it at their last Hogsmeade visit. Ellen had trusted me enough to tell me, and then June, but she didn't want the others to know. Tracy wasn't the only one who noticed that June almost revealed something. Colin and Jerry were staring from June to me with frowns before they exchanged looks. Sally-Anne's eyes had widened and I wondered if she knew.

"Well for once I agree with Tracy," Jerry finally said. "Seventeen is quite young. I know I won't be in love at seventeen."

"You don't know that," Sally-Anne said. "Things can change a lot in six years."

"Nope. I am not going to be one of those blokes," Jerry stated stubbornly. "I'll have girlfriends for sure, but I won't be all lovey dovey like Ben is with Ashley or Keith is with Ellen. It's stupid."

"We'll see you how you feel in five years from now," Sally-Anne said with a smirk.

I didn't say anything, but at times I wondered if something would happen between Sally-Anne and Jerry. Ashley had told me that people often predicted future couples and at times I could see something between them. In a way, I hoped they wouldn't. I didn't want any drama in our group. We had enough when Tracy was giving attitude. We didn't need to add relationships to the mix. Thankfully, it seemed none of my friends were ready for that. I liked snogging, but I didn't want what Ellen had with Keith quite yet. Claudia was enough for now.

Our New Years plan didn't go as well as we'd wanted. When we had the chance, we brought the fireworks down from the room we'd been assigned to, and we hid them in the living-room. They would go off with a bit of water. So when the countdown for the New Year started, Colin, Jerry and me set them up. We figured everyone would be impressed with it. The muggles would think it was brilliant how they could go off inside, and the older kids would be impressed about how daring we were.

Unfortunately, we ended up getting the opposite reaction. Once people figured out who had done it, we were told off for it. Ashley had never gotten angry with me before, and for the first time I couldn't help but be angry with her as well. I'd just spiced her party up and all she could do was send me upstairs. Ellen sided with her, and all of the older kids were glaring at us. The muggle kids who were there looked impressed, but no one else was.

"Thanks a lot!" Tracy said angrily as we went upstairs. "Now we're being sent to our room like naughty children."

"Oh shut up!" Jerry said angrily. "You wanted to be a part of it. Don't you dare even get angry with us for it."

"Well I told you!" Sally-Anne said. "We told you not to set it off and you did it anyway. I wanted to enjoy the party and now we have to go to our rooms!"

"You shut up too!" Jerry said to her angrily and Sally-Anne's face fell. I wondered if she had a slight crush on him after all.

He stormed off angrily to the spare room that Ashley wanted us in.

"We'll talk to him," Colin told Sally-Anne reassuringly as he put a hand on her shoulder. "I think he is just embarrassed. We shouldn't have done it. You were right. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Come on Timmy."

I followed. I wasn't so sure what to think. Maybe we shouldn't have done it indoors, but what was the big deal? They were safe indoors and the muggles would never guess that it was magic. Most adults would just think they were behind on the times when it came to fireworks, or else that we were just dumb kids. Not one person would automatically assume magic. At the same time though, I felt bad. Ashley and her mother had allowed us to come over, and we had broken the rules. Maybe we wouldn't be allowed to go to a party again!

"It was stupid," Colin said. "It did seem like a brilliant idea, but we shouldn't have done it. Maybe we should have done it outside instead."

"Maybe," I answered.

We entered the room that we were staying in that night. Jerry was on his back and staring at the ceiling angrily. He had his arms folded as he stared up.

"Why are you so upset mate?" Colin asked. "You shouldn't have snapped at Sally-Anne."

"Because I hate when people say things like: 'I told you so,' it just seems like she is getting on her high horse!" Jerry said angrily. "I know it was stupid now. We shouldn't have done it, but I hate when she does that. I like Sally-Anne but sometimes she can take the moral road too much. I also hate being sent away from the party like I am a little kid!"

"Well we didn't exactly act our ages," Colin said as he sat on the edge of the bed.

There was a foam mattress on the floor, and I took a seat on it and crossed my legs. When I thought about it, he was right. We wanted to be treated more grown up. I'd had that fight with mum about letting me stay home over the holidays alone, and yet I hadn't acted very grown up. I had done something a stupid child would do as a prank.

"And I am sorry I said anything at all," Tracy said as she entered the room. She walked over to me and flopped down on the foam mattress beside me. She sat rather closely to me.

She did this often, and with all of us. Even with Jerry who didn't like her. Surprisingly, he never told her to go away. He just let her do it. I had to wonder if it was because she was a girl. None of us minded when the girls sat close to us, and sometimes with certain girls I felt nervous. I had the first time Tracy had done it, but now I was used to it. I couldn't explain what it was, but I didn't care if she sat as close as she was at the moment. I felt I should have hated it since I still wasn't sure if I liked her or not. It was very confusing.

"You're right Jerry. I did want to do it with you lot as well. I just felt annoyed that Ashley and Ellen singled us out like that," Tracy said. "I hate being grouped together like that. The older kids always do that. Whenever one of us does something, they blame it on all of us."

"Yes I don't know why they do that," I said. "You, June and Sally-Anne shouldn't be getting punished. Where are Sally-Anne and June?"

"Sally-Anne is upset that Jerry yelled at her," Tracy answered. "Alana and June are trying to cheer her up."

Jerry sighed and sat up. "I'd better go talk to her then."

Jerry got up off the bed and left. Just as he did, Howard, Colin's older brother stepped into the room. He was glaring at Colin who gulped nervously as he took in his big brothers angry stance.

"What the bloody hell do you think you were doing?" Howard asked him angrily. "This is why I didn't want you here. You're not mature enough to be at parties like this. Ashley was nice enough to invite you here, and against my better judgement, I allowed it. You are a guest here! What were you thinking?"

Colin stared down at the floor. He was blinking quickly and I wondered if he was close to tears. He looked up to Howard quite a bit. I felt Tracy move and I glanced at her. She was looking at Colin with wide eyes and I wondered if she would make fun of him later. I knew if she did, I would yell at her. I knew what it was like to look up to someone so much. I knew how it felt when that person was disappointed in you. I was feeling that same with Ashley at the moment. She'd always been a second older sister to me, and she was so angry with me.

"It was my fault," Tracy finally said and I looked at her with shock. Colin looked up quickly too and stared at her wide eyed. His eyes were shining and I looked away. I couldn't handle seeing other blokes cry. It was hard enough seeing the girls cry. "I bet the boys a galleon each that they wouldn't do it, and then I taunted them when they didn't want to."

"That doesn't surprise me," Howard said. "You are a bully. I don't know why Colin hangs out with you. However, Colin is also responsible for his own actions. Colin, next time this stupid little slag bets you, don't listen. I'll give you a galleon if you want one that bad. Don't let her influence you. Setting of fireworks in a muggle home as a bet is stupid. I hope you learn from this."

And without another word, he turned and walked out.

"Why would you do that?" Colin asked her.

"Oh come on," Tracy said with a shrug. "The big kids already think I am terrible. It won't hurt to make him think it was because of me. You lot can tell Ellen, Ashley and Jerry's brother the same thing. We can tell your parents that too."

"Tell them what?" Jerry asked as he entered the room with Sally-Anne, June, Rory, Alana and Derek.

"Tracy just took the blame for the whole firework incident," I told him as they all took a seat. The third years joined Tracy and me on the foam mattress, while the others sat on the bed. I wondered why all the third years were upstairs too. "Mum and Ellen might be more understanding if they think that."

"No," Jerry said. "We are not putting the blame on Tracy. Mum, dad and Damian will know it was me if word gets out. I am not letting someone else take the blame for me, and none of you should either."

"But I don't mind," Tracy said. "All the older kids and adults hate me anyway. And it will make you lot get in less trouble."

"No," Jerry answered stubbornly. "I am not letting you take the blame for it."

"Why does it bother you so much?" Derek asked him. "You're basically getting a get out of jail free card."

"Because it's not right to let someone else take the blame," Jerry said and he folded his arms defiantly. "And the rest of you lot are cowards if you do let her take the blame. She shouldn't be getting in trouble when it was us who did it. Timmy, I've always liked and respected you but I don't know how much I can respect you if you let her take the heat."

"But it's only Tracy!" Sally-Anne blurted out and I looked at her in shock.

She was the one person, besides June now who always stuck up for Tracy. Now she didn't want to stick up for her. I could see Jerry's point now too. I had been the one responsible for it. I couldn't let a friend take the fall for it. I understood why Colin had let it happen, but I couldn't understand Sally-Anne's attitude. I liked her a lot. She was fun to hang out with, but it made me uneasy the way she'd said that.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, what is that supposed to mean?" Alana spoke up. "Don't get me wrong, I really don't like her much, but you have got to be kidding me! Why would be so willing to sell her out so quickly Sally-Anne?"

"Well no one likes her anyway," Sally-Anne said. "And she is volunteering to do it."

"Exactly," Rory spoke up.

"No, not exactly!" Jerry said furiously. "Look, I don't get along with her much," and he looked at Tracy. "It's very loyal of you to do that for us, but I don't believe in selling people out, even if that person volunteers," and then he looked at Sally-Anne. "I've always believed you were a nice person Sally-Anne. So I don't understand how you can be so quick to betray a friend like that! Tracy is your best friend! I could never do that to Timmy or June!"

"He's right," I finally said.

It wasn't right at all. Tracy was a lot of things, but June had been right when she said her heart was also in the right place. She was willing to take the blame for something we did and if that wasn't loyalty, I didn't know what was. And I couldn't let Ellen, mum or Ashley believe that Tracy had bet me to do it. The reality was, we had been the dumb little first years everyone accused us of being. We always said Tracy was a bad friend, but if we let her take the fall for us, we weren't good friends either.

"I can't live with that on my conscious, even if you did volunteer," I said to Tracy. "It's wrong and I am going to take the punishment mum gives me. We want to be seen as grown up, but how can we be seen as grown ups if we let someone else take the blame?"

Colin sighed. "That is true. I just hate when Howard is disappointed in me, but I should have stuck up for you."

"But I really don't mind," Tracy insisted.

"No, they're right," Sally-Anne said. "And I feel terrible for saying that. You shouldn't be taking the blame for them. You are one of my best friends. I was ready to sell you out, and I never thought I would do that to a friend."

"I guess there really is some redemption for you," Alana said to Tracy. "That is very big of you. If only you could always be this way instead of being bitchy all the time. We could actually like you."

"Well I have to be nice sometimes," Tracy answered trying to sound like her usual snotty self.

I'd only known her since September, but I was starting to wonder if there was more to her bitchy attitude than she'd let on. All I knew was, she had been willing to take the blame for us, and I couldn't forget that. For all the times she was bitchy, I would always remember this moment.

I had to spend the rest of the holidays being grounded, which wasn't really a big deal. It was only for a few days and then we were back in school. Mum lectured for me for a long time and even made me write a letter to Ashley's mum. I actually didn't mind doing that. As the days went on, I did feel bad for doing it more and more. I could admit that we had been very stupid. We were all going to be twelve soon and yet we'd pulled a prank that a kid would pull. I was supposed to be the man of the house, and I had let mum and Ellen down. I had let Ashley down.

Jerry's parents seemed to be the angriest out of all of the parents. From what he'd told us, they weren't strict at all. They let him and Damian do whatever they wanted, but they had grounded him for the Easter holidays too. They had made him write a letter to Ashley's mum and they had sent one as well. They had made him sit in his room for the rest of the holidays without his parchment or anything else. He was only allowed out for meals and the loo and that was it.

"Could have avoided all that if you'd let me take the blame," Tracy told him after he'd complained about all of this to us once we were back at school.

We were down in the first year dormitory. We could never get any peace and quiet in the common room. We got along with most people, and at times they wanted to join us. So we'd taken to sitting in the dorms. I wished we could have our own private spot in the common room like the older kids did. We didn't have our own table to sit at. Others always just sat wherever they wanted. I couldn't wait until the day that we could claim a corner of our own.

Jerry snorted. "Wouldn't have mattered if I did. My parents wouldn't buy a story like that because I'm still responsible. In fact, I think it would have made it worse. They would wonder why I'd want to do something so stupid for a galleon. Besides, I don't believe in letting someone else taking the blame for me."

"I told Howard the truth, but he didn't believe me," Colin said. "He thinks I am sticking up for Tracy. I still got in trouble though anyway."

"Let him believe what he wants," Tracy said. "Really, I don't care."

"So what happened with Ashley anyway?" Jerry asked me. "You said something about her getting her leg broken, but she seemed fine at her party."

"Well it would have been healed magically, so of course she'd be fine," Tracy said and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. She was back to the bitchy attitude.

I had a feeling Jerry had the same thoughts about her that I did now though. He didn't call her out on it. After what she had tried to do, it was obvious that she was loyal to us. Of course there were times we'd have to call her out when she went too far, but when it came to comments like that, it was something we could let go. It was when she made fun of people, or was rude to our parents or June that it was a big deal.

"She was limping though," June said. "She said it bothers her to walk around on it. I can't believe she went to Diagon Alley by herself though. I like her, but I don't understand what she was thinking."

"Well she should be able to go to Diagon Alley by herself," Tracy stated. "She's seventeen. She isn't a child."

"But Alana said that Ashley had an encounter there last year, and since those bad people meet up there, she shouldn't have gone by herself," June said. "I thought all of that was supposed to be over with You-Know-Who gone."

"But there will always be people who want to do it," Sally-Anne told her. "But my daddy says these people don't know what they're doing. It's only a matter of time before they're stopped."

"Apparently they've taken some muggleborns away though," Jerry said with a frown. "Some muggleborns left school because they're scared of what happened with You-Know-Who. They don't want to go through all of that again."

"Well they aren't as clever as You-Know-Who," Colin said. "Everyone knows they are up to something. The Aurors just need to get proof and then they can catch them. Then those idiot Slytherins who are boasting can shut up."

"Well I hope they are caught," I said. "I don't remember much about being in hiding, but I know it wasn't a fun time for my parents or Ellen. I still think it's the reason for why my parents divorced and mum thinks it's why dad turned his back on magic and on us."

This turned into talk about my dad, which I really didn't want. I tried not to talk about my father too often. I was so angry with him. He had left us when we needed him the most. I'd only been seven and I needed a father. Ellen had been my age, and sometimes I thought it was why she had so many stupid things. I knew she was responsible for her own actions, but I felt that it was why she'd been so angry all the time. I knew it was why I'd felt angry for a while. Sometimes I still did get moments of anger. Why did my dad not want me? I hadn't done anything wrong.

With my friends, I knew they supported me and they understood, but I never liked talking about it. They seemed to understand this, and they didn't bring him up. Not even Tracy would. It was something even she seemed to respect. But then again, she didn't really bring up her family life. She would tell us at times about how spoiled she was, but none of us really believed this. I thought there was more to her life than she let on. She seemed quite private, so perhaps it wasn't too big of a surprise that she didn't press me for information.

When I did bring dad up though, they all seemed to think it was okay to ask questions, and that's what they were doing now. It made me uncomfortable, and I answered with one word answers mostly. I tried not to be too grumpy with them about this, I had brought him up after all. Thankfully, June seemed to sense this was bothering me after a while, and she changed the subject.

—

Things seem quite quiet for Hogwarts during January. My friends and me continued to go down to the boys dorms to hang out. Some people found this amusing and they tried to say that we were having some kind of orgy fest down there. Whatever that meant. I knew it was some kind of sex comment, but I didn't understand it fully, but I didn't really care either. No one could overhear us or bother us. We had peace and quiet down there.

Tracy actually seemed to simmer down a bit for that month, and I kind of wondered if it was because of what happened at Ashley's New Years party. She still slipped out with her comments, especially if we hung out with Alana, Rory and Derek, but for the most part, she was the Tracy that we actually liked. I hoped that she was changing for the good. No one commented on this because we were worried that might make her change back into bad Tracy.

I felt jealous of Ellen and her friends. They were all learning to apparate. That was going to be such a long time for us. It would be in five years and that would take ages. I hated being a first year. I hated that we always had people watching out for us. I hated that everyone called us little kids even though we weren't. Even Ellen's friends saw us as kids still. I knew they'd hated being considered kids at our age. I remembered hearing Ashley and Ellen complaining about that when they were younger. Ellen had said she wouldn't treat the first and second years that way, and now she was. All I wanted was to be a sixth or seventh year and having a corner to Hufflepuff to myself. I wanted to be one of the oldest in the school instead of one of the youngest.

I knew that the firework incident hadn't helped with some of their attitudes. It made me wonder how mum was going to treat me over the Easter holidays or even summer. Would she still make Ellen baby-sit me or would she let me be home alone? I'd written to Ashley's mum to apologize, but I hoped I could see her in person to apologize too. I did feel bad because she'd been nice enough to let us come over, and we'd done that in her house. Perhaps if I started to try and be more grown up for the rest of term, the others would see me that way.

I started with my school work. I was already doing really well of course, but I figured I could do even better. I would also try and not get into fights with the idiots in my year. I would have to do my best not to get in detention. I wanted to be treated like a man, so I'd have to act like one. I'd have to learn to control my temper when people said stupid things. I was able to with Tracy. So perhaps I could with the idiot Slytherin boys too.

One afternoon while we were working on school work (even Tracy who normally complained) Keith walked over to me. I was surprised to see him without Ellen. He very rarely came over to me on his own. Perhaps he was asking me about his younger brother Lance. He was just a year younger than me and I'd told him I'd keep writing to him once I got back to school. Lance had told me that he was writing to me more than Keith, so perhaps Keith knew and he wanted to ask me what was going on with his brother. It was the only thing I could think of. Unless maybe something had happened to Ellen, but why didn't Professor Sprout tell me?

"Timmy, I need to talk to you," he said.

He didn't look very happy, and I realized it had to be the latter. He wouldn't look that unhappy if it was because Lance was writing to me and not him.

"Did something happen to Ellen?" I asked.

My friends all looked up as well with worry. If something had happened to her, I would tell them too, so I hoped he wouldn't try and keep it secret.

"What happened?" June asked which surprised me. She didn't often speak up around the older students. She was still shy around Ashley at times.

"You know what, I might as well tell all of you," Keith said. He walked off to grab a chair from another table. He returned moments later and sat down. No one spoke while we waited, but it must have been quite serious.

"Is she hurt?" I asked. "Is she in the hospital wing? Was it from practising Quidditch?" I fired off the questions quickly.

"Ellen is fine," Keith said with a sigh.

"It's not Ashley is it?" I asked thinking about my second big sister. June set her quill down with worry.

"Just let him answer Timmy," Tracy said but not unkindly like she usually would.

"Michael's parents were found murdered last night," Keith said nodding at Tracy as if to thank her. "Ellen wanted me to tell you because she said she promised she'd keep you updated. They were the same people who were involved with breaking Ashley's leg. They've been caught. All the people who were involved were caught."

Sally-Anne burst into tears, but it wasn't unusual with her at times. It wasn't that she was a big crier, but she could be very sensitive with situations like that. If she heard about someone dying or getting hurt, it seemed to affect her a bit more than the others, even June who was very sensitive. Seeing as we knew Michael well enough, I was sure she was crying for him. Colin reached over to put an arm around her. All that was on my mind was that I was thankful it wasn't Ashley's parents, and that instantly made me feel ashamed. Of course I felt bad for Michael too, but I was closer to Ashley and we all knew Michael's parents were drunks.

Finally though, I asked: "But who was behind the attacks?"

"You've probably heard Ellen talk Don Zent and Xavier Opress. It was their parents who were behind it. Ellen thinks that Don and Xavier passed information too their parents about both Ashley and Michael," Keith answered.

"They're not still in school are they?" Jerry asked. "I know who they are. They're always picking on us and the other first years. They act like they're big men but I bet they're just cowards. They need to be gone too!"

"They tried to trip me down the stairs!" Tracy added. "Mind you, I did call the one an ugly git with stupid hair, but still!"

"That one is Xavier," Keith said and then he suddenly laughed. "He does have stupid hair. See Tracy, that's the type of people you do need to insult. You described him perfectly."

"I don't know about that," she answered. "He used that trip jinx on me, and if it hadn't been for Colin and Jerry, I would have fallen down the steps."

"Well a sixth year who does that to a first year girl is a coward either way," Keith said. "You're definitely out of line at times but I would never trip you down the steps."

"They are out of school right?" Jerry asked again sounding impatient. "If they're willing to pass on information to have someone's leg broken and then someone's parents murdered they shouldn't still be in school. And you're right too. He is a lot bigger than us so he shouldn't be tripping a first year girl down the steps for an insult."

"Unfortunately, they are innocent until proven guilty," Keith said. "Believe me I think the same and once I tell the other sixth years, they're going to be angry. Don and Xavier are going to wish they weren't at school once everyone is through with them."

"Good!" Sally-Anne said angrily. "I hope you lot serve them right!"

"We know some really good hexes now too!" Tracy said excitedly.

"I just perfected the body-bind!" Colin added.

"And I know that trip jinx!" June spoke up. "All of us could corner them."

I saw Keith frowning and I wondered if he was going to lecture us that this was wrong. I couldn't help but ask him if that was the case. I knew that him and the other sixth years wanted to do the same exact thing. I could see it in his face when he mentioned the other sixth years. It was like a look of resolution about what they were going to do. Just because I was relieved it wasn't Ashley's parents, it didn't mean that I didn't care either. Now that I was fully thinking about it, I was very angry for Michael. I'd known him since I was a little boy and I hated to think of what he was going through. Not only that, but they had helped Ashley get attacked. Also, they shouldn't have tried to trip Tracy down the steps for an insult. So I wanted to hurt them too!

"You're not going to tell us not to?" I asked him. "Because you're thinking the same thing. It's hypocritical of you to tell us not to. We care about Ashley and Michael too. Just because we're younger, it doesn't mean anything."

"That's actually what I am worried about," Keith answered. "You don't know that much magic. I don't know what they're capable of. I'm not against you lot attacking them because they deserve it and so much more. I imagine anyone who is fourth year and older will be after them because they know Michael well enough. It's just that they know a lot more magic than you do. They might even know dark magic. I wasn't going to say not to do it. I was going to say to be careful when you do it. Just because it's six against two, it doesn't mean anything."

"We could do it when they aren't even looking," Jerry said. "Professor Frayton says it's low to attack someone when their back is turned, but this is different. We could all find places to hide and then when they come around, we could all hit them with something. Maybe you lot could too. The more people, the better."

"I bet that a lot of people will want to hex them when they find out," I added. "Even people who don't know Michael that well. They'll be angry that they helped get his parents killed either way. Hufflepuff's always stick together."

"Also, people just want peace after You-Know-Who," Colin replied.

"And they were angry that this new group were trying to start things," Sally-Anne said no longer crying now.

"And some people still have memories from the first war even if we don't," Tracy said. "The older kids to remember."

"And anyone who knows Ashley are angry that her leg was broken!" June added. "Can I tell Alana, Rory and Derek about it? They'll want to know about it. Alana definitely will want to know. She was very angry and worried when she found out about Ashley."

"You might as well tell anyone who wants to know," Keith said. "It's going to get around the school. Look, I am going to go talk to the other sixth years now. They've been wondering all day what is going on, but I told Ellen I'd tell you first. Michael was pulled out of classes this morning, and then at dinner, Ellen, Ashley and Ben were called away. I don't want to keep them waiting. I'll keep you updated Timmy, if Ellen doesn't," and without another word, he got up and walked off.

"I'm just going to hurry and tell Alana, Rory and Derek," June said as she got up.

"Tell them to come over here," Colin said. "We should come up with a plan to ambush them. Keith is right after all. Those sixth year boys probably know all sorts of dark magic and maybe they could take us all out. The more people we have with us, the better."

June nodded and hurried across the common room to where the third years were sitting.

"Maybe we can drive them out of Hogwarts," Tracy said. "I wonder how someone could want to help get a persons parent's killed. I'm mean but I would never want to kill someone or their parents."

"Tracy you can't be compared to them, no matter how nasty you are," Jerry said.

June returned moments later with the three third years. Alana took the chair that Keith had abandoned, while Rory and Derek had to grab a couple of more chairs. We all had to move a bit to make room for them all.

"So what is going on?" Rory asked. "June said it's urgent."

"Who wants to tell?" I asked and everyone gave a shrug.

It showed how serious it was that Tracy didn't speak up. Normally she liked to be the one to tell news. She liked being the centre of attention all the time after all. This time however, it seemed that they wanted me to tell. After everyone gave a shrug, all eyes fell on me, even the boys. I supposed to made sense. Even though Ashley had helped June and Alana, it truly was me who connected us all together to that group because of Ellen. So I quickly explained what Keith had just told us.

"I wish I could hex them right now!" Rory said angrily. "Michael has been through enough as it is! I can't believe they would help get his parents killed. Whatever you lot want to do, I am all for it!"

"How did you know we wanted to do something?" Jerry asked.

"We just assumed. June said it was urgent and you lot kind of looked determined," Rory said. "I had a feeling you wanted to do something."

"Same here," Alana said. "And these are the same people who attacked Ashley? They've been making problems for them for years. I'm in."

"I think you'll find that most people will be in," Derek said and he was staring in another direction.

I looked over to see what he was looking at. Keith must have just told the sixth years what had happened. A lot of the girls were crying while the boys looked very angry. Jared was even standing up with his wand in his hand. Sparks were emitting from it. Hank looked angry, but he looked as if he were trying to calm Jared down.

"We should try and team up with them too," I said. "But they probably won't take us seriously."

"They don't even take us seriously yet," Derek said. "Ashley is really nice, but I can tell she still sees as kids. I think we should make our own plans. The sixth years will want to do their own thing, so we'll do our own thing. That lot will just tell us to stand back and let them take care of it. I bet we could get the other boys in our dorm to do something."

"And we could probably too," Jerry said. "We really don't hang out with them but once they find out, they'll be angry. Huffleopuff's do stick together and they won't like hearing that those two got someone's parents were killed."

"And we could talk to the girls," Tracy said. "Well, you and Sally-Anne had better do it," she added to June. "They won't listen if I tell them."

"What about those second year blokes you talk to sometimes?" I asked Colin. "And what about your brother? Are you going tell him what they did? They're in his house and year after all?"

"I dunno about Fred and Nelson but I can talk to Howard," he said. "Fred and Nelson will be angry but they're very goody. They might not want to hex someone. But Howard says most of the sixth year Slytherin's don't like Don, Xavier or Maisie. But they're all older. We need people from first to third year on our side. Anyone fourth year and older won't take us seriously. What about Claudia? You still talk to her don't you Timmy?"

I gave a small shrug at that. I really hadn't seen much of her since we'd come back from the holidays. I supposed I could talk to her about it, but her and me hadn't really done much talking beyond homework and snogging. She didn't even know much about my life and I didn't know anything about her. I knew she was one of the nicest of the Slytherin's but she wasn't very bright, so she couldn't hold a conversation for long.

"I think the romance is done with that one," Tracy said with a smirk.

"There was never any romance," I said making a face. "We just snogged sometimes."

"But not anymore I see," Tracy said. "Did you realize she was as dumb as a troll?"

"Tracy right now isn't the time," Alana said. "Who else can we talk to? I'm friendly with other people in the third year. I am not talking to Tina and her gang, but I'll talk to the other girls. I get along quite well with the Gryffindor's."

"We'll talk to the other first years too," Sally-Anne said.

"Well I do know some of the second years," Derek said. "I'll talk to them and get them to spread the word. Remember, this is Hogwarts. If you find people who like to gossip, they'll do it. Anita Leaver is the biggest gossip in the second year."

"I don't like her though," Alana said. "So one of you can talk to her. She has a crush on you Rory."

The way Alana added the last bit made me raise my eyebrows. She almost sounded jealous. I'd once heard Ellen and Ashley discuss that maybe something would happen between them. Maybe they were right about that.

"I don't want to talk to her," Rory said. "Last time she came around us, she was all over me. I don't want her around me. She's annoying."

"How do you lot even know this girl?" I asked.

"Give it a year," Alana said. "She'll probably hit on you too. Sometimes I help out the other kids with school work, and ever since I helped her last year; she has been trying to hang off Rory and Derek. This year she seems to have her eye on Rory more. She wanted him to sneak her into Hogsmeade. Anyway, whenever I've tutored her she gossips about all the girls. I know more about the second year girls than I do the third year girls. So if you want word to get around to the second years, she's the one to do it."

"But will she want to spread that around?" Tracy asked. "It sounds as if she just wants to gossip about people. Girls in particular. Will she really care that much about some sixth year boy who had his parents killed."

"Hate to say it, but Tracy has a point," Derek said. "And you all know I hate agreeing with her. Anita is basically the Tracy of second year."

"Unless Rory tells her to do it," Alana replied.

"But what if she wants something from me?" Rory asked. "Look, I want to get revenge on them, and I think it's a good idea to get the first to third years involved, but I don't want to go on a date with someone to do it. I care a lot about Ashley and Michael, but I have my dignity as well. I don't want to date her."

"I don't think you'll have to go that far," Alana said. "Tracy, Derek does have a bit of point. Let's say a boy you really liked wanted you to do that. If you couldn't date him, what would you want from him?"

"What house and year is this girl from?" Tracy asked.

"Why does that matter?" I asked her.

"Because I think I can get through to her better than Rory offering to kiss her. If I can't have the boy, I'd want him to at least do it for a kiss," Tracy said. "I'll talk to her. If she is just like me, I think I can get through to her better than the rest of you can."

"Be our guest," Rory said and he pointed out to a group of people who weren't sitting too far from us. "If it saves me from having to kiss her, I'll do whatever it takes," and he pointed to one of the girls. "It's that one with the really long blond hair."

"She is cute," I said right away. "How can you be opposed to kissing her."

"She's cute with Tracy's personality," Rory answered.

"It's a good thing I don't get offended easily," Tracy said and she got up and walked over to the group.

"You know, Tracy has been a lot better since New Years," Sally-Anne said. "We try to be nice to her when she is being nice. Right now she is trying to be a big help."

"She has to do a lot more than take the blame to redeem herself in my eyes," Rory said. "She has insulted the people I care the most about. I just think she is a fake. She wants you lot to be her friends, so she'll do what she can to please you. I bet you that you'll have more fights on her behalf."

"Look, I don't like her much either," Jerry said. "But she is trying. That's all I can ask. It's going to take more than what she did at New Years for me to consider her as my friend. After everything she put June through during the first term, it is going to take more than that before I trust or like her. She's been good for the last month though, so I am trying to give her a chance."

"I think she does try, but she slips up," June spoke up. "She is better than in September. Even when her and me are alone. Sometimes she is rude to me, but a lot of the time she apologizes too. I've noticed a lot of the time she does it when she is feeling insecure. I know me of all people shouldn't want to be her friend, but I really do want to be. As nasty as she can be, we've all seen that other side of her. Back in September I didn't want to be her friend, but now I do."

"And that is the only reason why I give her a chance," Jerry said.

"Same here," I said. "Although I do see that there is some redemption there. New Years is the only reason I support her even more, but it's all you June."

"Why me?" June asked. "I want to give her a chance, but you two don't have to if you don't want to."

"We made a pact to stick by you no matter what," Jerry told her. "I basically made that decision the moment I met you on the train. I liked Timmy too, but I didn't know if we'd still be good friends after the sorting. When we were sorted there, we basically had a mutual agreement that it was all about you."

"What about us?" Sally-Anne asked meaning her and Colin. She looked a little hurt and I thought back to whether or not she had a crush on him or not.

"Well now it's about you two as well," I said quickly. "The five us will be friends with or without Tracy."

"Exactly," Jerry added. "I wasn't leaving you two out. I just meant that June does come first, but that doesn't mean we'll stop being your friends if you want to stick by her."

"So how many of you actually want to be friends with her?" Derek asked. "Just to get a consensus here."

"I like Tracy when she is acting like herself," Sally-Anne said. "I want to give her a chance. I don't see the bitchy side as the true Tracy."

"I want to be her friend because in my mind, New Years does make up for the other things," Colin said. "You lot weren't there when Howard came in. Only Timmy and Tracy were. I can't forget that."

I had a feeling he meant that it was because he was about to cry when she did it. I could understand his point for that. If Tracy was a true bitch, she would have laughed at him for almost crying when his big brother yelled at him. Instead, she took the entire blame for it so it would take the heat off of him. It was why I was sticking around. At first it was because of June as well, but after seeing and hearing that, I knew that there just had to be more to her. Maybe in the future she'd do something to change my mind. For now however, I wanted to be her friend. So I said this as well.

"Why?" June asked Derek.

"Well no offense since I can see that you lot want to stick together, I just wondered why you were letting her stay for one person," Derek said. "It just seemed rather silly to me. It would be the same if we were friends with Tina, and we stayed friends with her just for Rory or something."

"Our friendship with Tracy is complicated," Jerry said. "I hate to admit it because I used to truly hate her, but she has kind of grown on me too. It will still take a lot before I see her the way I see the rest of this lot, but I can handle her right now. New Years did help a lot."

"I just wonder if she is getting through to Anita," Alana said. "The two of them have been talking quite a while. Neither one looks very happy."

I gazed over to see why. If the two of them had similar personalities, they probably did clash. Tracy was red in the face. Anita had her arms folded. She didn't look happy either at first, but slowly her face turned into an infuriating smirk. It was one Tracy could wear at times. It was one that I wanted to hex off her face. I could see it was angering Tracy. Her hands were balled up. The other second years were watching with awe. They were probably wondering if they were going to start hexing each other.

"Do you think we should go over there?" Sally-Anne asked.

"No I think we should let them have it out," June said. "You know what Tracy is like."

"She's going to lose her temper," Sally-Anne said. "You know what she is like when she loses her temper."

"And now that girl is laughing in Tracy's face," Jerry said. "That's the worst thing you can do."

"But what can they be fighting about?" Rory asked. "She went over to see if she could get the second years on board with our plan. Why are they fighting?"

"If she is similar to Tracy as you say she is they probably insulted each other," I said. "Either Tracy gave her a jab or else Anita did. If she insulted Tracy, that would have pissed her off and then that set things off."

"In this case," Alana began slowly. "I think Anita insulted Tracy first. To be honest with you, I think Anita is actually worse than Tracy. I just usually lump those kind of girls together. Tina, Melanie, Tracy, Anita, Allison, Tamara and Roxanne. They're all the same personality types and I just label them all as bitches. To be honest though, Tracy and Tina are actually tame compared to the others."

"That is saying something," Jerry said. "I don't know about Tina, but I know Tracy well enough. If Anita is worse than her, I'm glad I don't know her."

Moments later, Tracy stomped back over to us. Normally she liked to keep her hair straight and perfect looking. Now it was a mess, and I wondered how. They hadn't gotten into a physical fight. Tracy flopped down with her arms folded looking very angry.

"What happened?" Sally-Anne asked her.

"She's horrid!" Tracy spat out.

"So she's not going to do it?" Rory asked her.

"No she agreed to that right away," Tracy said angrily. "But then she called me ugly and then we started to fight. Stupid little prissy bitch. If all her hair fell out I bet that she won't look so pretty!"

"Why don't you save all that anger for Don and Xavier?" Jerry asked her. "That's why we're doing this after all."

"So she is going to spread the word about it?" I asked Tracy. "Are the second years in?"

"They're in," Tracy said. "They heard us. Some of the boys know Michael and some of the girls know Ashley. So they want to get their revenge for her."

"Brilliant!" Derek said. "So let's work a plan!"

We didn't get to do our plan right away. The boys were pulled out of school the same day that Michael and my sister were. We all hoped that they wouldn't ever come back, but we all decided to have a plan in case they did come back anyway. I was obviously in charge of getting information from Ellen, but Alana and June decided to try and write Ashley once and a while. Derek and Alana also decided to be spokes person for the third years while Rory decided in the end to talk to Anita once and a while. We all decided this was best because Tracy and Anita clearly would never be friends. Fortunately, Colin's second year friends wanted in on it too, so Rory didn't have to talk to her as much.

Unfortunately, Ellen did seem to have some information but she didn't want to tell me anything yet. She told me she would, but she wanted to tell everyone in person. At first I thought it was because she was trying to keep things from me, but I found out from Keith that she was doing it to him too. If she was doing it to him as well, things must have been so serious that it had to be told in person. I had to admit, I did feel important when I told my friends and the third years this information.

The fourth years and older were also angry with the boys, but as we suspected, the older students wanted to leave anyone third year and younger out of it. I discovered this when I tried to talk to Jared, Hank and Stan. They all still thought of me as a little kid (even though they'd only met me a handful of times when I was little) still, so they instantly shooed me away. Keith was a bit kinder to me about it, but I could tell that he saw me as a little boy too. He saw me on the same level as his brother. Even Lance hated that. So I knew us younger years were on our own. That was fine by us though. No one was bossing us around or anything. The third years wanted to give us the respect we wanted it seemed.

"We could be like officially Dumbledore's Army!" Tracy said excitedly.

"I wouldn't throw that one around though," Jerry said. "I agree. I think Dumbledore's Army would stand together the way we are. I just feel like it's kind of disrespecting the name at the same time because of what they did and what they died for."

"But we are fighting for what they died for," I said.

"We can keep that name to ourselves then," Colin said. "We'll think of it but we won't call ourselves that. The older kids won't take us seriously if we call ourselves that anyway."

"I think it should just be Hogwarts Students Against Violence," June said. "DA can be implied, but I do think it's insulting to the real DA to use their name like that. We're a new group of students now. None of the DA are here anymore. You lot just want to use that because you want to show the older kids that we should be taken seriously too. The DA would draw attention to us, but I think it's wrong. I think the DA should be reserved if there is a real war."

"She's right," Tracy said. "Hogwarts Students Against Violence works. It's not as cool sounding as The DA but I think it does show we mean business and just because we're the youngest, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be taken seriously."

And so unofficially, we were the HSAV which didn't sound cool or anything, but it's what we called ourselves. We decided that anytime there was some kind of unneeded violence, we could all unite together. At first we thought the third years might find it dumb, or they'd be annoyed we picked a name without consulting them but they didn't seem to care. They only cared about getting revenge. Rory told us to call ourselves whatever we wanted but the HSAV would probably be forgotten by the end of the school year anyway. He was probably right, but at the moment, the six of us felt as if we were doing something important.

Ellen and her friends eventually came back and at first it seemed that HSAV wasn't going to get to do anything. However, we soon found out that a third person was involved with the attacks on Michael's parents and the attack on Ashley. I didn't know the girl too well. I knew she was a Gryffindor Prefect and Michael's girlfriend, but that was it. She had been at Ashley's party but I had never talked to her. Apparently she only dated Michael to get information about Ashley and Michael for Don and Xavier.

This made me even more angrier than I had been before. I believed Don and Xavier were scum, but Nicole had sold out Michael and Ashley to protect herself. We'd heard about Peter Pettigrew not that long ago. He had let Harry Potter's parents die just so he wouldn't have to. From what we heard, they had threatened Nicole's parents so she sold out Michael's parents. With her, it was worse because they weren't as bad as You-Know-Who had been.

The sixth years all went after her but so did we. The Gryffindor's in the first to third year were able to find out information for us too, and they were able to attack when if we couldn't since they shared a house. The girls made sure to bother her in the dormitories too. We'd made plans to hide out and hex the boys, but since they weren't around, we did it to her and so were the older kids. Not a day went by when she didn't get randomly hexed or jinxed.

And then to our dismay, the boys were back. We'd hoped they'd been pulled out for good but they were back. We decided that Nicole had been practice for us when it came to the boys. We could now use hex them too. The third years had taught us some hexes at their level. We decided to take Keith's advice and not give them a chance to retaliate. Everyone would hide and then hex them. The boys would never know where it was coming. The six of us would stand at different ends up the Entrance Hall and wait to send hexes. The odd thing was, the boys didn't even try to fight back. They had people from first to seventh year hexing them, and they never retaliated and it was odd.

One day, we were in the common room when I noticed a message appear on my parchment. I saw that it was from Claudia. It was the first time she had written me in a while. Tracy had seen her snogging some second year boy, so I was a bit surprised that she was telling me. I supposed Tracy had a point at Christmas when she'd said that Claudia had no substance. She was just a pretty face after all. It was fine with me though. There were other girls at school. Once the drama died down, perhaps I'd find another girl. Soon I'd be twelve and I'd find someone who maybe could be a girlfriend. Ellen was twelve with her first boyfriend after all.

Someone gave Don Zent antlers! They're in the library. Hurry and up here before he is gone!

I told my friends this. I couldn't help but notice all of them, even June smirked when I mentioned it was Claudia. However, they all got up quickly so we could hurry to see him. We ran into Ellen as we were about to run up to the Entrance Hall.

"Come with us to see!" Jerry told her excitedly but Ellen shook her head.

"Chances are he has already left the library," Ellen said. "Besides I have homework to do. Let me know what it looks like when you do see."

"Okay!" I said and we continued to run up the steps.

Maybe we wouldn't see him in the library but we could see him before he went to the hospital wing. So we kept going anyway. It was Tracy who suggested we take the long way. If we took that way, we could intercept him if he was on his way out.

"Who do you think did it?" Colin asked as we slowed down. "It would have to be a sixth or seventh year wouldn't it? Howard said you don't start human Transfiguration until sixth year, but even then it has to be someone really advanced."

"Maybe a Ravenclaw?" I suggested. "Maybe Ben did it!"

"I can't see Ben doing it," Jerry said. "He probably could do it just fine, but I don't think he's been part of the hexing. I know he has told people off, but I've heard the older kids talking. Ashley, Ellen, Ben and Michael aren't hexing anyone."

"Only because Michael hides away," Sally-Anne said. "But I did hear that Ellen is trying to stop people from hexing them. You should find out why Timmy."

"I already know why," I said. "Ellen thinks bullying isn't the answer. She knows all about what we're doing and she disagrees with it. She told me that we should stop."

"But she laughed about the antlers," Tracy replied.

"She thinks they are getting what they deserve, but she is worried that they'll retaliate like sometimes muggles do," I answered. "She thinks it isn't up to us to do the punishing."

June stopped in her tracks which made the rest of us do so. She looked horrified and I wondered why.

"She's right," June finally said with wide eyes. "Haven't you heard of the stories in the United States? Kids get angry and they take guns to school!"

"What are guns?" Colin asked her.

"They're things you can kill other muggles with," I said. "I have these toy nerf guns. I'll show them to you when you come over again."

"A long time ago, about the same time when You-Know-Who was in power, these boys took guns to a High School and they shot the school up," June said. "And there have been more since then. It's not only bullied kids who do it but sometimes they do retaliate. What if Don and Xavier get so angry that they kill someone! Isn't there a killing curse?"

"But they haven't done anything yet," Sally-Anne said.

"That doesn't mean anything," I said.

"So we're just stopping?" Jerry asked. "What about Hogwarts Students Against Violence?"

"But we're doing the same thing we don't want them to do," Colin said. "We're fighting violence with violence."

"Don't they put posters around muggle schools?" Tracy asked. "We could do that. We could put something on the notice board. Anyone is allowed to things up on the notice board. We could put something like that up."

"It actually isn't a bad plan," Jerry said. "We should tell the other kids. Bullying isn't the answer. We should have thought of that in the first place. We were so angry at first though and we wanted revenge."

"Okay, June you go find the third years," I said looking to her. "Colin, maybe you could talk to your brother about it."

"I'll go with you," Jerry said to Colin.

"And someone should talk to Anita," Sally-Anne said.

"Well I am not doing it," Tracy said. "I'll go with June to talk to the third years. I know they probably don't want me around, but I'll take Rory and Derek any day over her. Actually, I find their comments kind of enduring. If I talk to that bitch again, I might hex her! We're trying to say we're against violence after all."

"I bet that's not the only reason," Sally-Anne muttered in my ear before saying, "Timmy you and me can go talk to Anita then."

"Joy," I said. I had never talked to her because one Tracy was enough to handle.

"We'll all meet up down in the boys dormitory then," Colin said. "Let's go!"

Sally-Anne and me headed back to the common room. The others ran off, but we just walked. I had enough running for one day. Ellen had once told me that she wanted a drama free year at Hogwarts, and somehow her drama seemed to interfere with my life as well. It was what happened when I cared so much for her friends. Ashley was after all a second sister to me, and Michael was someone I'd always liked, even when I'd heard the stories about him. I said something like this to Sally-Anne who smiled.

"I think our drama is only beginning Timmy," she said. "Although hopefully this is the last of the Death Eaters or whatever they are calling themselves."

"I don't think they are Death Eaters," I said. "I think that's what people call them because they are former Death Eaters. I don't think they have a name for themselves, but they don't care if people call them that. It's a scary name because of You-Know-Who and what they all did when he was in power. It's the name they fear. Kind of like why no one will say You-Know-Who's real name. Death Eaters have history behind it and it's why Tracy suggested The DA. It has history after all."

"I think you're right," Sally-Anne said. "But I think now that they're caught we won't have to worry anymore and then you won't have to deal with your sisters drama."

"Somehow I doubt that," I said. "Ellen is a lot better than she used to be, but I think it won't be over until the end of next year. Just like she'll be connected with us, especially when it comes to Tracy. She really does hate her."

"Tracy is better than she used to be," Sally-Anne said. "And I hope she keeps getting better. Jerry said I am her best friend, but the truth is, Tracy isn't entirely truthful with me. I'm not actually close to either June or Tracy. We're all friends, but they aren't my best friends. Alana is June's best friend and then you and Jerry are. I'm closer to Colin and sometimes Jerry too I guess. I don't think Tracy is best friends with any of us and I think that is her own doing. I think she is just scared to get close to people and it's why she has that bitchy attitude. She hides behind that bitchy attitude because she doesn't want us to see the true Tracy. She doesn't want to get hurt, and it's either because of her Primary school life or there is more to her home life than she is letting on. It's why I don't want to drop her as a friend yet."

I nodded thinking Sally-Anne was onto something. I did like her well enough, but I had always just considered her as part of the group. I'd never considered her as a close friend. I realised at that moment that out of all the months we'd hung out, this was the first time her and me had actually been alone together. I'd been alone with everyone else, even Tracy but Sally-Anne and me hadn't really hung out one on one before. I thought about before when I wondered about her and Jerry. Would it embarrass her if I asked her?

I hesitated before I said: "Do you have a crush on Jerry?"

"No," she answered. "Why? Oh no, does he think I do?"

She covered her face and she blushed.

"I dunno if he thinks you do," I said. "But I doubt he would care. You're pretty," and then it was my turn to blush. I had never even told Claudia that she was pretty and we'd snogged. I hoped Sally-Anne wouldn't think I liked her when I didn't. What if she thought I was asking that because I did and now I called her pretty! "I mean it would be different if it was Tracy!" I added quickly. "He'd be angry if it were Tracy but not you or June. I just wondered is all. You seem upset whenever he is angry with you."

"Sometimes I don't think he likes me," Sally-Anne confessed. "A lot of the time it seems like it you, June and Jerry and then Colin, Tracy and me are just there as an after thought. I mean when we talked about keeping Tracy around with the third years, you and Jerry just talked about June and that was it. I just feel left out a lot, but I know that the rest of you lot do like me even if we're not close. Sometimes with Jerry I feel like he thinks of me the same way he does with Tracy."

"It's because we made that pact," I answered. "June was just so sad and scared when we first met her. I think we just have that bond from meeting her on the train. We just really wanted to protect her. The moment we met Colin, we really liked him too though. I knew instantly I wanted to be his friend. I've always said that the more friends, the better. It's why I am glad that sometimes we hang out with the third years too. I just wish we were as close to them as June is. I wouldn't mind hanging out with them full time. But they have their lives and we have theirs. Anyway, Colin introduced us to you and Tracy the next day and I liked you right away but not Tracy so much. I was glad to add more people to our group."

"But I can tell Jerry likes you, Colin and June. It's common knowledge that he hates... well he doesn't mind her so much now. He tolerates her now. I know you like me even if we're not close. I just don't feel that way with Jerry," Sally-Anne said. "I don't have a crush on him though. I like- well I like someone else. It's just I want a closer friendship with you and Jerry. I know I can probably get it with you. It's so easy to talk to you. Even now when I am slightly embarrassed it's easy to talk to you."

"Jerry likes you," I said. "If he didn't, he wouldn't have cared that he upset you at New Years."

"But then he got angry with me when I wanted to sell out Tracy. I feel ashamed I even said that. I felt ashamed as I said that. I only said it to impress Jerry, but then he got angry and then I felt upset that I would even dare say that because I don't believe in selling people out," Sally-Anne said. "And then I couldn't believe I would do that just for someone to like me. Now I feel like maybe I am fake or something. I mean, that is exactly what fake people do. They sell out people to impress people!"

"I don't think you're fake," I said to her. "I think you're just insecure and you did something stupid. We all do stupid things like that sometimes. At least you knew it was wrong. Real fake people keep doing that type of stuff. I think you should just talk to Jerry."

"I am insecure," Sally-Anne admitted. "I didn't expect I'd make any friends let alone five. I don't know if I could Alana, Rory and Derek as friends or even Ashley and her friends. They're all nice to me but they talk to each other because of that sister group. So really, it's just you lot. I've never had friends before I met all of you. I'm still getting used to this friendship thing. That's another reason why I don't want to let Tracy go quite yet. I really think we can get through to her. I don't think she's had friends either. It would be awful to be so far away from home without anybody around. I hope it doesn't come to the point where we have to stop talking to her because it will be you lot I will stick with. It's just that, she can be a bitch, but I find her enduring too."

"I know what you mean," I said. "I hate to admit that she has grown on me. But Ellen also told me not to take drama from anyone. So I'll have to think about that if it does get to be too much. I really think you should talk to Jerry though. He won't make you feel embarrassed. He jokes a lot, and he can be a bit tough but I know he does like you. He's quite honest about that kind of thing."

"I just hope he doesn't think I have a crush on him like you thought, cause that isn't it at all. I do like a boy, but not him," she said.

"Why? Who do you like?" I asked.

"I dunno if I can tell you," she answered shyly now and I wondered if it was me after all.

"Are they Hufflepuff?" I asked figuring that was a safe question. Maybe it was Colin. She said she was close to Colin.

"Yes," she answered. "But he doesn't really give me the time of day much."

I really couldn't imagine that it was Colin or me. She said she was closer to Colin and she already said that she knew I liked her. The only one who would fit that description was Jerry, but she said it wasn't him. So was it one of the boys in my dorm? They really didn't give any of us the time of day, but I thought they were friendlier with the girls. I had a feeling it was someone we saw often. Was it one of the older students?

"Rory or Derek," I said aloud as soon as I thought about the older students. I knew I had said the right thing right away. She went even redder than before. "They might not mind," I continued. "So which one is it?"

"Derek," she answered. "Ever since June introduced us to the third years I've thought he was cute. Don't tell anyone though please! I don't want them to know!"

"I won't tell," I said.

I figured with her sharing this secret with me, it was one step closer to us growing close as friends. In all honestly, I wanted my group to be like Ellen's was. They were all close, and then they were friendly with the other Hufflepuff's too. I wanted all six of us to be very close. It would probably take time since I was just close to June and Jerry at the moment. However, she had just shared an intimate secret with me, and I thought that meant we could have a bond. I wished there was a secret I could share with her. I thought Claudia was very cute, but I wasn't all that put out that we weren't snogging anymore. There weren't any other girls I thought were cute.

"So do you really think we can put a stop to this?" Sally-Anne asked and I was glad for the change of subject. "We're just first years after all."

"We basically started this," I said. "I just have to wonder how easy it will be to talk to Anita."

"It might be easier if it's us and not Tracy," Sally-Anne said. "But if she likes gossip, she might not want to tell the second years to stop. It might have been easier if we got Colin to talk to his friends."

"We'll do that too I think," I said. "Has Colin ever said what house they're in? I just know he hangs out with them because his brother know's their brothers. Are they Slytherin? I know they aren't Hufflepuff."

"Well we might just leave that up to Colin but I think they're actually Ravenclaw. He never talks about them. He only does if we bring them up," I answered. "To be honest, I've never really cared since he didn't want to introduce us."

"I wonder why that is," Sally-Anne said.

"Could be that he just wants friends away from us. It's nothing against us. Ellen has that with some girl named Lindsay. She has her best friends, but she also likes that she has someone outside the group too. I think Colin feels the same way," I said.

When we entered the common room, it was to find Ashley and Ellen talking. I considered going over to talk to them about our plan, but they probably wouldn't take us seriously. I knew even Ashley still saw me as a little boy even if she let me go to her parties now. So I decided for the time being that we wouldn't.

"Do you see Anita anywhere?" Sally-Anne asked as we scanned the common room.

"Right there," I said pointing ahead of us.

It seemed luck was on our side that day. Anita was actually alone. Ever since the third years had introduced us to her, I noticed she always had a gang of girls around her. They all seemed to hang out together with the other second years, but a lot of the times the girls were around her. For once, she seemed to be by herself.

We walked over to her and she glanced up as we approached. She looked as if she were writing on her message parchment.

"You're cute," she said to me instantly. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised though. You are Ellen Perenge's brother and she is pretty. I should have known she'd have a cute brother."

"Er-right," I said awkwardly and I glanced at Sally-Anne for help.

"Too bad you're not in my year," she continued. "But I suppose a year younger isn't too bad. We could hang out sometime. Is that why you're here? I broke up with my boyfriend not too long ago. He was a big baby."

The girl was quite forward and when I got a little older, it was something I would like. As an eleven year old though, it made me very uncomfortable. I didn't like the way she was staring at me. As our eyes locked, she winked at me and my face warmed up. When I was with Claudia, I never felt this awkward.

"Are you shy?" She asked.

"We came over here to say that we should stop hexing those sixth year," Sally-Anne said and I was relieved. She explained quickly why she thought we should.

Anita rolled her eyes. "Who cares. They can't do anything. They're being watched closely by the teachers. That's why they have retaliated. Anything we give them isn't compared to taking someone's parent away. I like Michael, even if he doesn't pay attention to me. I don't care much about that Ashley girl cause she is ugly but Michael is cute. I heard your sister turned him down. I don't understand why. I'd love it if he paid attention to me."

"We think that violence isn't the answer," Sally-Anne said. "We thought maybe you could tell the second years to back off. We're planning on telling the first years that. We're hoping Alana will tell the third years."

Anita just snorted. "People won't stop and I don't plan to stop. I'm getting a kick out of it. It's fun."

"We didn't start this for fun. We wanted them to learn their lesson, but we think it's gone too far," Sally-Anne said looking angry now.

"I'll tell the second years on one condition," Anita said and then she looked at me. "If Timmy here gives me a kiss. I will tell every second year to back off."

"No," I said.

"Oh come on. You should be glad. You're just a first year and I am paying attention to you. Do you know how many boys want me?" She asked. "All the second year boys want me. I bet all the first year boys too. I bet you've never kissed before. Well, I can be your first kiss," and before I knew it, she leaned forward and kissed me.

I stood stiffly not sure what to do, but I didn't like it. This wasn't like snogging Claudia at all. It wasn't only because I wasn't kissing her back. It was just very wet and sloppy. She licked my lips too. Was that normal?

"You're supposed to kiss back," Anita said pulling back a bit. She leaned forward to kiss me again, but there was a bang and she was suddenly on her back and frozen.

I wiped my mouth feeling disgusted. I looked up to thank Sally-Anne figuring it had to be her, but I saw that it was Tracy. She had her wand pointing at Anita. June and Alana stood nearby with looks of shock on their face. I glanced around the room worried that others had witnessed my embarrassment, but no one else was paying attention. Ashley and Ellen were still deep in discussion.

"Sorry, I should have done it," Sally-Anne said. "I could see how uncomfortable you were but I froze. I didn't know what to do but it should have been me who hexed her."

"Luckily I've been wanting to hex this bitch for a while," Tracy said with a smile. "Let's all go sit down, or do you want to wash your mouth out Timmy?"

"I'm fine," I said and glanced at Anita with disgust.

The girls and me walked over to a table and sat down.

"So what exactly happened?" Alana asked. "All we saw was you looking very uncomfortable while she kissed you. Why was she kissing you?"

I explained quickly what happened.

"I dunno why I didn't pull away," I said. "It wasn't like kissing Claudia at all. She kissed me and it was all wet and I couldn't move and then she did it again and it was even more sloppy and then she licked my lips. That's not a normal part of kissing is it? I've heard there are tongues involved. I grew up with Ellen after all, but it can't be like that can it?"

Alana started to giggle.

"Well no, I mean it really depends. There is french kissing. I think sometimes people do that, but I expect she is just a really bad kisser," she answered. "To be honest, I've never heard of someone licking someone else's lips. Maybe the older kids would know best. I snogged a boy who nibbled on my lips a bit and that felt sensual, but I've never had anyone lick my lips and I've never licked their lips. When I've snogged, I've tried tongue a few times and it felt weird. I don't have much experience with kissing to be honest. I just think you met a really bad snogger."

"It's so wrong to kiss someone when they don't want you to!" June said angrily. "And if that was boy who did it, he'd be in so much trouble!"

We all glanced over at Anita. It appeared that no one had noticed her yet, or they didn't want to help her. She was still flat on her back, but I thought it was well deserved. I wished I had moved away from her because it was the worst experience of my life so far. I'd heard that snogging got a lot more intimate as you got older, and I really hoped that wasn't what it would be like. How did Ellen and Keith do it? What about Ashley and Ben? It was a question I felt too embarrassed to ask them. Perhaps I could talk to Michael or someone.

"I hope that doesn't put you off from kissing forever," Alana said. "It's not all like that at all. Ellen once told me that you'll have good kissers and bad kissers. You just met a bad kisser and it grossed me out just from watching. Trust me Timmy, it isn't always like that. So don't let her turn you off."

"But what is it like having a tongue in your mouth?" June asked. "I mean, so many couples do it. So there must be more to it then being gross. You said it was uncomfortable."

"And do you ever gag?" Sally-Anne asked.

"And what about when it's really sloppy?" I asked her. "I don't want someone's drool in my mouth. If my mouth had been open it would have been like that. I never want that experience ever again!"

"I don't have all the answers. Wait until Rory and Derek get back. They've snogged more than I do. All of us should talk about what we're going to do to stop the older students anyway, but you can talk about it with them. They won't laugh at you. I've only kissed a couple of boys so I don't know all the answers. Rory and Derek get overprotective when I have dates, so I don't know how they'd react if I snogged around the castle like they do," Alana answered.

"YOU'RE A BITCH!"

We all looked up to see Anita with clenched fists and staring at Tracy with anger. Tracy didn't care though. She just gazed at Anita calmly.

"Maybe you shouldn't snog boys who don't want to snog you then," she answered. "Timmy didn't want to kiss you."

"You're just jealous because he didn't want to kiss an ugly bitch like you!" Anita said.

"At least I know how to kiss," Tracy said. "I've never made a boy gag when I kiss them. No wonder your ex dumped you. He probably got tired of drowning in your spit. No one wants a mouthful of spit. You should practice your technique, except on boys who actually like you."

"All boys want me," Anita said.

"Why because you put out?"

"You'd have to put out for a boy to like you."

"At least when I do shag I won't give boys diseases!"

"You probably have already shagged."

"Yes Anita, I shag boys all the time! In fact, I am pregnant!"

"I bet you are pregnant. If you aren't pregnant, you are probably going to be pregnant by your fifth year!"

Tracy just started to laugh. "Anita, you're nothing but a disgusting girl. Say what you want about me. Maybe I will be pregnant when I am sixteen, maybe I won't be. However, I'd rather be a pregnant fifteen year old then some girl who forces herself on boys. You might be a very pretty girl, but I guarantee I'll find someone else before you do because I don't traumatize boys when I kiss them! I think if we asked your ex how he felt about your kissing, he'd tell us that it was disgusting!"

"Slag," Anita said and then she turned and walked back to where she had been before. She had been joined by her fellow second years, so I assumed one of them must have taken the hex off of her.

"What is going on?"

We'd all been so focused on the fight between Tracy and Anita that we hadn't noticed that the others had joined us, including Rory and Derek. It was Jerry who had asked. They all took a seat. I didn't want to talk about the kiss anymore, but thankfully Sally-Anne seemed to sense this. She began filling the boys in on what happened. Rory and Derek began to laugh.

"I hope that hasn't traumatized you from kissing forever," Derek said to me.

"Glad you took one for the team though mate," Rory added.

"It's really not that funny," Alana said. "She forced herself on him. He didn't want to kiss her, but she did it anyway."

"Why would you let her?" Jerry asked me laughing. "Why didn't you stop her?"

"I couldn't," I said. "I can't explain it but I felt frozen to the spot and she kept doing it. I bet you wouldn't be able to move if it happened to you!"

"I'm glad it didn't happen to me. Don't get so defensive about it," Jerry said with a shrug. "It does sound funny."

"Well it wasn't," I said. "I wanted to puke."

"I might like it," Colin said. "She's hot."

"Trust me, you wouldn't," I said. "But maybe you can take one for the team next time. I don't think she's going to tell the second years to back off."

"Well I'll talk to Fred and Nelson," Colin said. "Don't be so snippy Timmy. You're normally not like this."

"Normally I don't have something disgusting like that happening to me," I said angrily.

I knew the boys were just trying to cheer me up, but I really wasn't in the mood. I couldn't stop thinking about the sloppy kiss I'd received. I just wanted to be alone, and away from the smirks of my friends. So I got up abruptly and headed straight to the boys dormitory. I had been humiliated and grossed out and I didn't want to talk about it anymore. If this was what growing up was all about, I didn't want any part of it. I wanted to be eight years ago and swimming in the pool. I missed the good old days.

Thankfully my friends didn't bring up the kiss again after that day. They must have decided it was best to leave me alone about it. Anita stayed away from our group fortunately. I kind of wondered if they'd told her off some more after that day. I had a feeling that they had. Perhaps even Jerry and Colin realized just how bad it finally was afterwards. Maybe the girls had talked some sense into them. Either way, I was just glad that everyone left me alone about it after that day.

Thankfully we didn't have to do much with getting people to back off either. Slowly people began to back off, but then all three were expelled. I later learned it was because Ellen's friends had gone forward to the teachers about what had happened and soon the three students would have to go to trial.

I was relieved that things seemed to go back to normal. June was still insistent about trying to get a notice up about HSAV but no one else seemed as enthusiastic about it. Now that the students were gone, we didn't see the point. No one was hexing at anyone in the corridors anymore. Most people were very happy and relaxed even though with Easter coming up, it meant exams were near.

June was getting into a frenzy about this. She started making us all study timetables and there were nights when she stayed in the library until close to curfew. At times I would join her because I really did want to do well in my first year, but I could study as intensely as she did. Most of the time I'd leave before she did.

"Do we have to study all the time?" Tracy asked one afternoon. "Can't we just have one day and have fun. Let's go to the boys dorms and hang out! Ever since the thing with Michael's parents, we've all been so serious. One weekend off won't hurt and then we can study over the holidays. I'm tired of the common room, especially if that Anita girl always giving me the stink eye!"

"You need to learn to ignore her," Jerry told her before he looked at the rest of us and he threw down his quill. "But I do agree. I'm tired of studying. Mum and dad are probably going to make me do it. They still haven't forgiven me for the firecrackers."

"Still?" I asked putting down my own quill. "Mum forgave me a long time ago. Let's go down to the boys dorms. I'm actually tired of Anita too."

I knew she was staring at me. I tried my best not to look at her. She didn't come near me, but it was obvious when someone was staring at me too. I just wanted her to go away. Sure enough, when I looked over, I saw her staring. She smiled when I looked over. Angrily, I got up and headed to the boys dorms. Thankfully my friends followed me.

"So what are we doing for the holidays?" June asked as we all piled onto Jerry's bed.

Tracy sat close to me and put an arm around me. I was used to this by now so I didn't give it a second thought. Despite the fact that Sally-Anne had said she didn't have a crush on him, she was sitting the same way near Jerry. I wasn't sure if she'd talked to him since that day or not. I figured she must have since she seemed quite comfortable around him. I wondered why June didn't do it. I wouldn't mind if she did it.

We began talking about the Easter holidays, and then the talk turned to other matters, including some second year girl that Colin thought was cute. While we talked, Ellen suddenly appeared. She glanced around the dormitory with disgust.

What are you doing down here?" Tracy asked her.

I saw Ellen scowl at her, but she didn't answer. Instead, she just kept walking over.

"Did your trunks blow up in here?" She asked once she was closer.

"I stopped trying to clean up after them a long time ago," I said. "There is no point. How come you're in here Ellen? You never come down here."

It was the truth. She never came over to me, especially in the boys dorms. She didn't even know the involvement we'd had when it came to sticking up for Michael. She hadn't said much to me since she'd kept us updated about what was going on with all of that.

"I was just writing to mum," she said and she sat on the edge of my bed. "I want to stay for the Easter holidays, but she said the only way I can is if you do too."

I liked that idea instantly. I wouldn't have to worry about mum trying to get a sitter for me. It was something I worried about. I just wanted my independence but mum still saw me as a little boy, and the fireworks incident didn't help. At Hogwarts I could study more and we could have fun. That is if my friends stayed. I was sure June was. She had mentioned something about it not too long ago.

"Brilliant!" I said excitedly. "I'll stay."

"And perhaps you lot could stay to keep him company," she said to my friends.

"I'm staying anyway," June spoke up.

"Her parents don't want her going home," Tracy said.

I felt instant annoyance. It seemed when my sister was around, she went back to the Tracy we hated. She'd been doing so well lately. She still had her aggravating moments but otherwise she was doing so much better. Now it seemed all the progress she'd made went out the window. I thought Sally-Anne was right when it came to her insecurities. She probably felt insecure with my sister, and they hated her. Why did she have to start being rude to June though? I saw Jerry scowling at her. He'd never like her if she kept this up.

"Oh shut up! I bet your parents feel that way about you," Ellen snapped. "Quit picking on June all the time."

"I'm just stating the truth," Tracy said. "There is no need to be that way with me."

"I'm just stating the truth too," Ellen retorted.

"I can probably convince my parents to let me stay," Jerry spoke up after sending Tracy another glare. "They're still angry with me about the fireworks incident. They even said that maybe they should make me stay for the holidays to punish me. I guess I am making that decision for them."

"They're still upset about that?" Ellen asked looking surprised.

The rest of us were surprised about this too. Apparently they were still sending him messages that lectured him. He was tired of it and I didn't understand why they would. Mum had stopped bringing it up ages ago. I'd apologized and I'd had my punishment and we'd moved on. The only thing that worried me about it was that she'd make me have a sitter.

"Yes. I admit I shouldn't have done it now but at the time it seemed like a good idea. I've felt guilty ever since. Every once and a while mum or dad write to me about how wrong it was, and they weren't sure what to do with me. They're worried that Ashley's mum is going to write them or something about it. They said they won't blame her if we're not allowed over again, and they aren't sure if I can go to a party again," Jerry answered.

"Are they strict?" Ellen asked. "I can't imagine why else they would keep bringing it up. I can't imagine mum ever doing that."

"They're actually not!" Jerry said. "That's the odd thing about it. They've always trusted me and my brother, but they're really upset about this."

"Maybe because you broke their trust then," Ellen said. "You should talk to them about that though. They shouldn't keep throwing it in your face like that."

"Maybe I can get Damian to talk to them too," Jerry answered with a shrug. "He thinks they're going overboard too."

"Well it was stupid. You shouldn't have done it," Tracy spoke up.

This made me angry because now I knew she was showing off. She had been so sympathetic to us about it. She'd tried to take the blame for us. Now she was acting like this, and it was only because she was trying to show off for Ellen. She was being fake. Why did she always have to become like this, especially around Ellen? It was like she thought she was impressing the older kids by doing that.

"Oh don't even start," I said to her with anger. "You wanted to do it with us but we wouldn't let you. Don't even lecture us."

I considered adding on that she'd been willing to take the blame, but I'd never told Ellen about that. That would lead to more conversations and arguments. I just wanted Ellen to go away because I couldn't take it when Tracy was so obnoxious. Ellen and Tracy were glaring at each other. I'd heard girls were competitive, so perhaps that's what it was. I noticed Tracy didn't act that way around older blokes.

"I'll just let mum know you're on board then," Ellen said. "Just remember the rules."

This annoyed me even more. She was telling me not to follow her around. I hadn't planned on it. I didn't know how many of my friends planned to stay, but we'd keep ourselves busy. Even if I was the only one I'd be fine. I was really tired of this attitude she gave me sometimes. When would she see that I wasn't six anymore?

"Yes I know Ellen," I told her. "I remember. You don't have to remind me. We won't bother you."

"Good," she said and then got up and walked off.

"Why do you get like that?" Sally-Anne asked Tracy the moment Ellen was gone. "You've been so nice lately and then it just all goes out the window when one of the older girls are around."

"Probably can't handle being around prettier girls," Jerry said and he rolled his eyes.

"But that is most girls," Colin said. "Seriously Tracy, you've been likeable lately. Don't be that person. We don't like it."

"Anyway, I don't think mum is going to let me stay," Sally-Anne said. "I think my parents will want me home. I'll try but I can't see it."

"Same here," Colin said. "I'll ask but with Howard in his sixth year now, they'll want us both home. It won't be much longer with us both at home. Besides, they aren't all lecture crazy, but I think they do want me at home cause of the fireworks. They told me recently I need a better choice in friends. So if they know I am staying with Tracy, they won't be happy about it."

"I'm going to stay whether my parents want me to or not," Tracy said.

"Let's go back up to the common room," June said. "It's getting smelly down here. I mean it was before, but the smell is getting to me. Ellen is right, it does look like the trunks blew up."

"It isn't that bad," Jerry said. "But sure, let's go up. I want to write to my parents and I left the parchment up in the common room."

"Maybe we can do some flying over the holidays," Tracy said as we all got up. "We've been saying we'd fly around the pitch but we really haven't been. I haven't been on a broom since our lessons."

"Probably a good thing," Colin said as he snorted.

Tracy was terrible at flying. I liked flying and sometimes I thought I wanted to play Quidditch but other times I wasn't so sure. I thought it'd be more fun recreational but not serious. Ellen and Ben would be leaving the team and they'd need two new Chasers but I figured I'd be a better Seeker. I wasn't passionate about it the way my sister was.

"Well maybe I can get better without lessons," Tracy said. "Madam Hooch is a terrible teacher that's why."

"Yes that must be it," Sally-Anne said. "Blame it on the teacher."

We made it through the tunnels and on the way through, we bumped into Ellen and an ex-boyfriend of hers, Stan. I wondered why she was talking to him. I knew they'd had a bad break up because she still wanted Ben, but that was it. I never understood why she'd been upset about it. She had cheated on him with some Zachary bloke who lived in our building. She had thought I hadn't noticed but I had. She'd had a fling with him for years. I'd even walked in on them a couple of times making out. I knew she'd shagged him too, but thankfully I hadn't walked in on that. I just knew even though she thought I was too young to understand.

"Hold it!" Ellen said as she grabbed a hold of both Tracy and me.

She looked furious and I wondered what was wrong. She was glaring more at Tracy, but as our eyes met, she looked just as furious with me. What had happened in the time since she'd left the dorm?

"Don't touch me!" Tracy squealed.

"No! You two have some explaining to do," she said furiously and then she gazed at the rest of my friends."The rest of you go on! I need to talk to my brother and this little bitch!"

Was it because of the way we'd been sitting close together? She couldn't honestly think that we were dating?

"What's going on?" I asked.

The others looked confused but they seemed nervous by Ellen's anger. They looked at each other and then hurried off.

"I am telling!" Tracy said angrily to Ellen.

I knew it was an empty threat, she didn't believe in telling on people. Something like that wouldn't intimidate my sister though. She didn't care if Tracy did tell.

"Go ahead you little rat. One detention isn't going to kill me," Ellen told her and then she turned to me angrily. "What the hell are you doing telling people that I cheated on Stan with Zachary!?"

"I didn't," I said understanding now.

Stan who was still there must have confronted her about it. I couldn't blame her for being angry. I'd absolutely hated everything she did. I didn't believe in cheating, and she shouldn't have been with Zachary but she was my sister. I would never sell her out.

"Then how does she know?" Ellen asked me as she pointed at Tracy. "She told Stan that I cheated on him."

"Ooh and now you're all upset because you got caught!" Tracy said with a smirk and then she looked at Stan. "I hope you let her have it. You know, I am going to be thirteen soon. I would never cheat on you."

"I am seventeen," Stan said to her. "I would never date you even if you were old enough. You only told me to cause trouble between us."

If I hadn't told Tracy, how could she have found? I didn't get it. I didn't like the way she was taunting my sister and now I was angry with her. Before I had been annoyed with her attitude, but now I was very angry with her.

"You should be thanking me!" Tracy said to Stan.

"Thank you for trying to cause a fight between me and my ex-girlfriend," Stan said and he rolled his eyes. "I'll talk to you later Ellen."

Stan turned and walked off.

"Well that is just bloody bullshit!" Tracy said angrily. "How can he still like you after knowing that?"

"He doesn't," Ellen answered. "Now explain to me how you know if Timmy didn't tell you."

"Yes, how do you know that?" I asked her. Had she listened in on extendible ears or something? I turned to Ellen. I needed her to know that I'd never do that to her. "I've never even told June or Jerry and I tell them everything. I don't know how she knows."

"Shouldn't leave your diary out Ellen," Tracy said and she sounded so proud of herself. Had she actually read Ellen's diary? She didn't believe in invading someone's privacy like that though. Perhaps she was bluffing.

"I had everything in my closet!" Ellen said furiously. "I had mum charm it so that only I could open the door."

"Yes, but after we went to bed, you took your diary back out," Tracy said. "You were writing in it, and then you went to sleep."

"You read my sisters diary?" I asked her. She had actually done it. She always said we shouldn't eavesdrop on her because her business was personal, and yet she had read Ellen's diary. Of course I had to, but I was her brother. It was how I'd known about most of her flings. I'd known about Zachary because it was obvious, but the rest I had to read about. I knew a lot about things she'd done I shouldn't have. She even smoked weed!

It was one thing for me to read it though. It was another for Tracy to do it, and I was furious. She was not only a hypocrite, but she had read my sisters most inner thoughts. There were things in there that she could use against Ellen.

"You have!" Tracy retorted and I finally snapped.

"She's my sister!" I shouted. "You had no right to read her diary! Get away from me Tracy! I can't even talk to you right now. I am so damned sick and tired of you and the problems you keep bringing to us. Now you are trying to ruin my sisters life as well. What the bloody hell is wrong with you? Are you that damn insecure?"

She'd been so good lately, and now all of that was all gone. I didn't even think that New Years even redeemed her anymore. Hexing Anita was cancelled out as well because she was using the information she'd read in Ellen's diary against her. I didn't know if I could forgive her this time. Just when I thought she'd had a real turn around, she had actually done the opposite.

Tracy stared back at me with shock. For once she didn't have anything to say. I think she was realizing at that moment that she could lose our friendship over this. I didn't know if I'd end it or not but I was angry enough to do so. She was going to have to really prove herself if she wanted to stay part of our group.

"I can't believe you waited until I was asleep so you could read it!" Ellen said angrily. "If you come over again, you are not welcome in my room."

Then she suddenly slapped Tracy very hard. The sound echoed around the tunnels. I felt proud of my sister but I was still very angry. Tracy began to cry, and then she turned and ran off. I stared after her furiously. Perhaps she was just being fake the whole time. Maybe she hadn't meant well all this time.

"I really hope you're going to stop hanging out with her," Ellen said to me.

"I haven't decided yet," I answered and I really wasn't. She had read Ellen's diary, but on the other hand, what about the other things she had done for us? She couldn't be that fake. "I'm going to talk to her later when I am not so angry. I'm going to tell the others what she did. I won't say anything about the cheating, but they should know she read your diary."

"Speaking of which, it is not okay for you to read my diary either," Ellen said, and I couldn't believe she was bringing that up. Of course it was wrong for me to do it, but it was different when it was me.

"You know what I meant," I said to her. "Maybe I shouldn't be, but it's worse for her to do it. You hit her really good you know."

"I just wonder how long it will be before I am in detention," Ellen said.

"She won't tell," I assured her. I knew that Ellen wouldn't believe that she wasn't a rat, but she would know that Tracy didn't want to lose us as friends. "She's terrified to lose us as friends. Right now I bet she is crying in her dorms but she won't tell anyone what happened. Maybe I'll just hold it over her head but I won't say anything to the others. That might be punishment enough for her."

I had just come up with that, but I figured that had to be enough to keep her mouth shut about Ellen. Maybe if she worried that she'd lose us, she would lose the attitude completely and be the girl we actually liked. The one she had been the last few months.

"Do whatever you want, but if she keeps doing things like this you're going to have to make a hard decision Timmy. My friends and me had to make a decision like that when it came to Michael. She's going to end up having a wake up call," Ellen said.

"I know. It's something Jerry and me talk about a lot. We know she is terrified of losing us as friends, so she try and hard not to go too far. This is going too far and she needs to learn a lesson," I said. "Anyway, Jerry, June and Tracy are staying with me, so you don't have to worry about me bothering you. They wrote to their parents after you left. Colin and Sally-Anne's parents want them home."

It was a lie, but I figured that would reassure Ellen that I wouldn't follow her around. I was so sure that it would be Jerry, June and Tracy staying with me. If Jerry's parents decided that he had to go home, I'd tell her they changed their minds.

"Good. I think my friends might be right when they say it's fun at Hogwarts over the holidays," Ellen said to me. "It will be like one long weekend."

"And maybe we can drink?" I asked her with hope. Perhaps she'd decide since I was so close to being twelve, she'd let me.

"Give it one more year Timmy please," Ellen said. "I started in the second year."

"It's the same as Alana, Rory and Derek. They all say to wait," I said with annoyance. Did they all forget what it was like being a first year?

"Well then you should realize that we're all right. It's not like I am trying to deprive you of fun. I just want you to give it some time before you get drunk. You have plenty of time to drink Timmy. There is going to be a time when you're my age, and you'll be looking out for the first years," Ellen replied. "I know I didn't keep my promise to you about OWLs and I am truly sorry about that, but I want you to promise me that you'll wait until this time next year before you drink. You'll almost be thirteen by then."

"Fine, but I am not waiting past second year," I said. "I know the second years drink. When I am in the third year, you'll be gone and I can drink when I want... well, unless you fail again."

I couldn't help but add the last bit. I was still disappointed with her, and I was annoyed with the way she was treating me. I had just stuck up for her and yet she was still treating me like a child.

"Don't you start with that again," Ellen said.

I just gave a small shrug. She should learn to appreciate me more. When we entered the common room, it was to see that Tracy had actually joined the others. She was in tears and they all looked angry. I had a feeling she had told them the truth but she tried to make Ellen look bad.

"I better go see what's going on," I told Ellen before I walked over to them.

Tracy looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. Everyone else glanced at me too before they gazed over at her. I wasn't sure what to say to at her first. I was still very angry and I didn't want her there.

"Your sister is a bitch!" She spat at me and that did it.

I started to yell at her. I said everything that I had been holding back for months. Tracy stared at me with even more shock than before as it all came out. Even June and Sally-Anne who wanted things to work out with her glared at her.

"If you want to keep hanging out with us, you will not tell anyone what you read in that diary," I finally said. "Anything you know, you'll keep to yourself. If I find out that you've told anyone besides Stan, we are done! If I ever let you come over again, you will respect her privacy. You will not sleep in her room. You shouldn't have read her diary, even if I have. You only did it because you wanted to use something against her. It's obvious you did. Why else would you wait until she fell asleep?"

Tracy still didn't respond, but I had to know why she would do it. I wanted her to look me in the eye and tell me. Did she really want to ruin my sisters life? Just because the two girls hated each other, it didn't mean anything. I knew girls could be spiteful with each other. I'd heard enough stories, but why do that just because she didn't like Ellen?

"I want an answer Tracy," I said. "Why did you read her diary? Why did you tell Stan what you told him? Do you really hate Ellen that much that you want to ruin her life?"

"I never planned to tell anyone what I read," Tracy finally said in a small voice. "I was still awake, and she set it out. I couldn't sleep, so I skimmed through it quickly. I only read the juicy stuff. I never planned to hold anything over her head."

"So what changed?" I asked. "Why did you decide to tell Stan that? I'm not so sure I believe you."

"She called me ugly," Tracy answered tearfully. "I was angry and I saw Stan, and I remembered reading what I read. So I told him. I haven't told anyone anything else. It was out of spite."

Part of me could understand that, even though I was angry. I didn't think it justified it, but I understood better than if she'd just done it just to be a bitch. I believed out of all three girls, Tracy was the most insecure. Ellen had told me that Ashley had been very insecure at twelve because of her age because of her looks. We'd had a talk about insecurity and hormones (which had been very uncomfortable for me) and apparently twelve and thirteen is a very insecure time for a lot of girls. Ellen had said that even at sixteen she still got insecure, but it had been ten times worse when she was my age. She'd also told me that both she and Michael had done dumb things out of anger and insecurity.

So even though what Tracy had did was very low, I wasn't going to end things at that moment. I needed her word that she would never do anything like that again. I didn't care if Ellen insulted her again in the future. This was her one time free pass when it came to her.

"Fine," I finally said. "I'll talk to Ellen about calling you ugly, but don't ever do anything like that again! I don't care if she insults you in the future. I will end our friendship if I find out that you've anything else from that diary!"

"I don't want you to talk to Ellen about calling me ugly," Tracy said. "It will just give her power over me. You're right, I shouldn't have read her diary, but you know she'll hold that over my head if you tell her. Don't deny it because you know it's true. She'll feel satisfied that she got to me. I told you, I never planned to say anything."

"But what if she insults you again?" I asked.

"There isn't anything else in there that I can reveal that no one else knows," Tracy said.

"Wrong answer," I told her angrily.

"I'm not going to say anything else Timmy," Tracy said. "I'm just saying that anything she wrote in there besides that isn't common knowledge. The only person she wouldn't want knowing those things is Ashley."

"And you're not going to tell Ashley any of that stuff," I said.

"Fine," Tracy said still looking tearful.

I glanced at everyone else now. They still looked angry, but I thought I saw some pity in Sally-Anne's and June's faces as well. In fact, I actually felt that way a bit now too. I wouldn't talk to Ellen about the ugly comment, but I was going to try and talk to her about being nicer to Tracy. Sometimes Ellen did just be rude to her for no reason. I didn't know why she'd called Tracy ugly, but I knew at times my own sister wasn't innocent. I knew that didn't justify Tracy's behaviour, but there had been a change in her behaviour before now. She could be a good person, and it was the only reason I wasn't going to end our friendship. If it hadn't been for the fact that there had been some redemption before now, I would tell her to leave us alone forever.

I knew I had the four others on my side. They would do what I wanted.

"Glad to hear it," I finally said and then I turned to Jerry to ask if he'd written home yet. "I told Ellen that you said you had."

"No, but I am sure I can convince them to let me," Jerry said. "I think they'll be more than happy to let me stay. It will be more fun here anyway. We can actually try and get a corner I bet."

"I hope so," Colin said. "Do you think Claudia is staying Timmy?"

This caused some teasing from my friends. I glanced over at Tracy who remained quiet while everyone else joked around. She didn't seem to want to leave and I had a feeling she thought we'd talk behind her back. I was sure my friends were wondering what she had revealed to Stan, but they would never know. It seemed odd that Ellen and me now shared a secret with Tracy. I never would have thought that would happen.

For days after that, Tracy was very quiet. She just kept her head down and actually worked on her school work. It almost seemed odd, and I actually missed her annoying chatter. There were times when I wished she would be quiet, but now I was so used to her being there, I was used to that kind of background noise.

Jerry waited until the first morning of our Easter holidays to ask me exactly what had happened. We were the only two first year boys who were staying so we had the dorms to ourselves. He was sitting on his bed and waiting for me in the dormitory after I finished having a shower and I'd dressed. Out of all the blokes in my dorm, I was the only one who bathed everyday. I found this to be quite disgusting. As a kid, I'd had many baths growing up. Perhaps it was because of mum and Ellen, but I just liked being very clean. The rest of them seemed to think maybe one or twice a week was enough. I wished I hadn't ended up in a dorm with so many dirty people. I glanced at Jerry as I rifled through my trunk for socks. I was sure that it had been days since he'd showered.

"So are you going to be in a better mood?" Jerry asked me. "You've been kind of moody lately. It's unlike you."

"It's just all the drama we've had to deal with lately," I told him. "I am fine. I'll get over it. I think I really needed the break, especially since we're staying at Hogwarts. I know mum would probably make me have a baby-sitter."

"And is Tracy the main source of your stress?" Jerry asked.

"No," I answered. "She was part of it, but it's with what happened with Michael's parents and then Anita, and then Tracy reading Ellen's diary. Ellen told me last summer that there was a lot of drama that came with going to Hogwarts, but I didn't realize it would be this much. I didn't expect it to be like this in our first year."

"It will be as long as we hang out with her," Jerry said.

"She is getting better," I said.

"I don't understand why you're so insistent on keeping her around," Jerry said. "You used to see things from my point of view when it came to her. Timmy, she is toxic. You haven't even told me what it is that she read."

"I can't for Ellen's sake," I said. "Jerry, I used to feel that way too because I didn't know her. She has shown a different side. She does it when she is insecure."

"That doesn't justify her behaviour Timmy," Jerry said.

"Of course it doesn't," I said and then I sighed and sat on my own bed. "Have I ever told you about Michael?"

"You've implied some things, but I don't know the full story. I doubt he was ever as bad as Tracy," Jerry replied.

"Actually, some of the things he did might have been worse," I said. "Do we need to be in the common room right away?"

"It's the holidays," Jerry said simply.

Originally, Ellen hadn't wanted me to know about Michael but I had persisted. She hadn't wanted me to be in the same situation she had been in. So she had eventually told me everything. She'd told me how he'd made fun of Ashley, to his crush on her, to them putting him on probation, to him offering a bunch of first years Firewhiskey and how that ended up being his wake up call. It took time for him to change but he eventually did. It was a surprise to me because he'd never been anything but nice to me. So I told him everything I could remember Ellen telling me.

"I just feel like Tracy is kind of our Michael. I've seen the change in her and so have you," I said. "We've seen what she can be like."

"I doubt Tracy reading Ellen's diary is her wake up call," Jerry said. "I see what you mean, but how much of her drama do we have to deal with before it happens? Do we put her on probation? I've seen the change too, and I almost started to like her but then that happened. I still don't understand why this means so much to you. Michael had alcoholic parents to deal with. So while maybe he was a prat, he did have an excuse."

"Because I'd just hate to think of someone being so far away from home without friends, especially since I think her home life might be similar," I answered. "You can tell when Tracy is lying. She gets overly obnoxious when it she is bragging like that. None of those stories about her being so spoiled are true. Why do you think she bothers June about not being wanted at home. It's called projecting your insecurities. I learned that last year in Primary school."

"And so we're supposed to feel sorry for her when she makes fun of June?" Jerry asked. "I don't care what her story is. It doesn't give her the right to treat June the way she does."

"No it doesn't," I agreed. "I think we should continue to call her out on her bullshit. We can't let her get away with that. And that's what true friends do. I learned that from Ellen. They kept calling Michael out, and they stayed his friend when he offered the first years Firewhiskey. Ellen hasn't told Michael yet, but she admits that they shouldn't have put him on probation."

"So what do you want us to do?" Jerry asked. "I get kind of tired of getting into fights for her, or with her Timmy. I just want to have fun. I know we'll deal with drama sometimes but not all the time."

"I want us to keep drawing out the real Tracy. She has been getting better. I think every time she gets too bitchy, especially with June, we have to say something. When she is being friendly, we need to be friendly back. Eventually she'll learn that she needs to be that way instead of the bitch. Maybe we can even find out why she is being such a bitch. If we can find out what her real home life is like, we could get through to her better," I answered. "You don't have to if you don't want to but I'm not ready to end our friendship yet. Not when I've seen how she can be. Maybe it's that Hufflepuff loyalty part of me."

"Yeah well I seem to have it in me too," Jerry said with a sigh. "Because I am going to do it for you. I know it means a lot to June and Sally-Anne too. I think Colin is neutral about it either way, but the three of you are insistent. If she hadn't stood up for us at New Years or for you against Anita, I wouldn't do it. There is a chance of redemption for her, or at least I hope so. I just hope it doesn't take until the end of our fourth year."

"I really can't see Tracy trying to make the younger kids drink," I said.

"Who were they anyway?" Jerry asked. "Why would he want three first years to drink."

"You'll never believe it," I said with a smile, "but it was Alana, Rory and Derek."

Jerry nodded. "Actually that does make sense since they are friends of Ashley's. I'm surprised they never told us. They are so against us drinking and Michael was drunk when he did it. No, I can't really see Tracy doing that but I can see her picking on first years when we're older. Look, I am in because she has been a lot better lately. She isn't anywhere near as bad as she was in September. So I suppose there is some redemption, but Timmy, there is going to be more drama before there she has that wake up call. And she might not even have it. I would have thought the diary incident would be the end."

"It would have if it hadn't been for the Anita thing," I said. "She was the one who hexed Anita for me. The rest of you think it's funny, but it wasn't. I couldn't move because I was scared. You can laugh at me all you want, but I didn't know what to do and it was so disgusting and I was frozen. It wasn't like with Claudia where I wanted it. Tracy was the only one to step up and do something about it. Sally-Anne was frozen on the spot too, and I bet once June and Alana saw, they didn't know what to do either. It was Tracy who put a stop to it. So that's why I can't end our friendship. She also didn't do it to be a bitch, it was because Ellen called her ugly. People do dumb things when they're insecure. She shouldn't have read the diary, but I can tell she was telling the truth when she said she hadn't planned to say anything."

"Okay mate I get it, and I am sorry I laughed at you," Jerry said. "I guess I had to be there to understand. I don't think I'd be happy if some girl whom I didn't want to kiss forced herself on me either. It's just that she is so pretty."

"Doesn't matter," I said. "Anyway, we should go meet the girls."

"You're not going to tell me what Tracy read?" Jerry asked. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

"It's just Ellen doesn't want anyone to know," I said.

"I'm not just anyone. If you can trust Tracy not to tell anyone else, you can trust me," Jerry said. "I wouldn't tell anyone. If we're forgiving Tracy for that, I'd like to know what she revealed exactly."

I sighed. Ellen wouldn't have to know.

"Ellen cheated on Stan with some bloke in our building. His name is Zachary. Actually, he was in the lift with us during the holidays," I said. "He was the one who said hi to me. She cheated on him for most of the summer almost two years ago. She thought that I didn't know, but I already did even without reading it in her diary. She had a fling with him for years."

"And so Tracy told Stan," Jerry said. "Well, I can't say I blame her for that. She should not have read Ellen's diary, but I don't believe in cheating. Stan had the right to know."

"Tracy only told Stan to get revenge on Ellen though," I said. "She didn't do it because she thought it was the right thing to do. She just wanted to hurt Ellen."

"True, but it makes me feel better about the situation," Jerry replied.

"I don't agree with that," I said. "I understand why she did it, but I just don't think she should be doing that to get revenge on someone. It's wrong."

"Almost like us all hexing those gits?" Jerry asked.

"The situations can't be compared," I said.

"I don't know Timmy. Tracy is a bitch and she shouldn't have read Ellen's diary. I agree with that one hundred percent. However, I just don't think any one of us, not even June or Sally-Anne could be completely innocent in a similar situation. I think if any of us felt wronged, and we had some kind of information against someone we dislike, we'd do something like that. I know I would. I'd do it to Tracy in a second. You'd probably want to do it to Anita or someone else you dislike. It's because Ellen is your sister, that's why you're sticking up for her."

"I suppose so," I said. "But she'd better not ever do it again. You're right. Ellen is my sister, and she can be mean to me, but I don't want Tracy spreading stories about her. It's hard for me to be as forgiving as you when it comes to her telling Stan about the cheating."

"I know," Jerry said. "I'd probably feel the same way if it were Damian. I just know that I'd probably do the same thing if I was that angry, and we all know how sensitive Tracy is about her looks. I'm more angry that she read Ellen's diary then the fact that she told Stan."

I figured this was something we'd have to agree to disagree on. I was just glad that he was on board with giving Tracy another chance, or more chances. I just hoped we wouldn't have a Michael situation with her.

The holidays ended up being a lot of fun. Tracy slowly turned back into her old self, but we were able to tolerate it better. She did call Ellen a slag once, and I had to shoot her a warning looking, but otherwise she seemed okay. I had a feeling she was bothering June as well without Sally-Anne around, but if she was, June wouldn't admit to it. I did know that June spent some time with Ashley for a bit.

One of my best parts of the holidays was to find out that I had grown. That happened the first day of the holidays. Ellen wanted to have a talk with me about Tracy and then we came to my height. Ashley and Ben ended up measuring me to find that I had grown six inches! I couldn't stop gloating about it, and I was surprised Jerry didn't make fun of me, or Tracy didn't tell me to stop talking about it. It was something I was happy about for days afterwards. I was finally at a height that was normal for kids my age. The weird thing was, I hadn't noticed. I didn't know why I hadn't noticed. It was a lot for the time I'd been there for.

"I noticed," Colin told me when he and Sally-Anne returned. "I just didn't say anything about it. It's almost the same as those plants Professor Sprout has made us care for all year."

Now that I knew I had grown though, I was noticing it more. June had been taller than me at the beginning of the school year, but now we were the same height. Sally-Anne was slightly taller than us. I hoped by next year I would at least be as tall as Tracy who was the tallest out of the girls. Jerry was still quite tall, and I imagined he had actually grown too that year, so I figured it would be too much to ask to grow taller than him. I just wanted to be taller than the girls. That was the way it was supposed to be. I hoped Ben was right when he had said that I'd be taller than him someday.

"I knew you were insecure about that," Tracy said to me one day shortly after all the students came back.

We were on our way down to the Great Hall. It was a Saturday morning, and we were both up before anyone else. I had been on my way on my own, but she had run to catch up to me. I always felt awkward to be alone with her, and I wasn't sure why. I had seen her in the common room, but I'd pretended not to. We'd been walking in silence at first, so it was a surprise she even brought it up. I didn't have to ask her what that was. I knew she was commenting on my height. I'd been talking about it non-stop to the point I was worried that my friends would get sick of it. No one had called me out on it yet, but I was sure it would happen soon.

"No I wasn't," I lied. "I mean, I am happy that I've grown but it never made me insecure."

"Yes it did," Tracy said. "It's why you made so many jokes about it. Besides, Jerry seemed to be the only one you'd joke around with it about. Anyone else you'd get a little defensive about it. There is no shame in it Timmy. Everyone has their insecurities. You know mine. Even Jerry has them even though he won't admit it. Even if you hadn't told us, it would be obvious now. You're so happy about growing six inches."

"Well maybe I was a little bit," I finally said.

I didn't think there was a shame in being insecure about it. I was sure it probably was obvious that I had been. Tracy had a point there. I just didn't want to have that secret with her. I didn't want her to have something over my head. If I was going to admit it to anyone, it would be Jerry or June, or even Sally-Anne.

"Why?" Tracy asked.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked back sounding a bit more annoyed than I meant to.

She looked a little hurt by this, but just like Jerry, I didn't fully trust her yet. I was worried it we got into a fight (and we surely would) she would throw it in my face. What if she want behind my back like she did with Ellen?

"You don't have to tell me," she said. "I just don't understand why it bothered you so much. Ellen is small, I mean I am practically taller than her. Who cares."

"Ellen is a girl," I stated. "Blokes aren't supposed to be short."

"Where would you get a silly idea like that? You know it's about genetics and not the gender right? I thought you were supposed to be smart. Boys aren't automatically taller just because they are boys. I know so many men that aren't very tall," Tracy said.

"But girls only like boys who are tall," I said. "It's common knowledge. I know you have wizard parents, but you said you have muggle electronics. Didn't you grow up watching the telly? All the movies and programmes I watched the tall bloke always got the girl."

"Because the telly is sooo imformative and always right," Tracy snorted. "Look at that bloke in your sisters year. That Jared bloke. He is one of the shortest out of the boys, but he gets girls all the time. He gets more girls than any of them and it's because he is so sexy. Sexy isn't just about height," she said and then she smiled at me and then put an arm around me. It sounded odd to hear her use that word. I'd never used it before. I thought it would seem awkward to say. I felt even more awkward with her putting an arm around me after she said that word. "Don't take this wrong way Timmy because I don't have a crush on you. I'll tell you who I have a crush on in a second. You are a very good-looking boy. So many girls really like you. I hear things in the loos and girls know I hang out with you, so they ask me or even Sally-Anne and June. So many girls want you. Why do you think Anita did what she did? She wanted you. She is picky about boys and she only likes older boys, but she kissed you."

"That's not very reassuring Tracy," I said. "I don't want unwanted kisses."

"No one does," she answered. "I'm just trying to reassure you that even if you didn't grow much, you'd still get a lot of girls. They liked you even back in September."

"Well thanks for telling me," I finally said.

"Why do you seem so awkward? Is this conversation making you awkward?" Tracy asked.

"Yes," I answered honestly. "And it's not just that. It's you. You used Ellen's cheating against her. I don't want you to use this against me. I don't understand why you wanted this information from me."

"I'm not going to use it against you," Tracy said. "I just wanted to know. We're friends. Friends share secrets with each other. You might not realize it, but I like all of you. I even like June now even though I didn't in the beginning. I like being part of this group. It's why I've stuck up for you, and it's why I hexed Anita. I don't like Ellen though. It's not like I did it just because I woke up and felt like ruining her life. She was rude to me the moment she met me, and anytime I try to be nice to her, she is still rude to me. I don't have a problem with you, so I'm not going to do that. I just wanted to tell you that you shouldn't be insecure."

"You realize there is a reason I don't trust you," I said to her. "We're trying our best to get along with you because of moments like this. You have a good side to you, but then you always ruin it by being a bitch. So it's hard for me to know if you're being sincere or not sometimes. You don't like my sister, but she is my sister and she comes first before you."

"I know," Tracy answered simply. "But I am not going to use anything against you Timmy. Besides, it's obvious that you're insecure about it. No one talks about it, but I'm sure it's common knowledge with everyone. Often people joke about the things they are insecure about."

"Okay so all of us think that you're actually insecure about your life," I said to Tracy. "You go on about how spoiled you are, but we think that's not true. It's why we think you make fun of June about being unwanted at home."

Tracy's face went red and I knew I was spot on.

"I'm wanted at home," she said.

"Really?" I asked. "It's like you said before, there is no shame with your insecurities."

"Timmy, I can't talk about my home life," she answered. "Look, I'll tell you a little bit, but I am not going into detail about it. I am wanted at home, and I am spoiled but it's not always a good thing. I am not saying anything else. Just like I can't throw the height thing in your face; you can't throw this in mine."

"Then you can't make fun of June about it anymore," I said. "She is wanted at home. It's just her parents are so happy that she is a witch, they want her to make the best out of her gift. They also feel a bit awkward with her gift because they don't understand magic, so they want her to be around magical folk more. Her parents love her though."

"I know all that," Tracy replied.

"So why make fun of her?" I asked and Tracy shrugged. "It's because you are projecting your insecurties."

Tracy snorted again. "What is there a self-help section in the library? That sounds like something a mind healer would say."

"It's something my Primary teacher explain to me last year," I answered. "Kids did bug me a lot about my height, especially last year. I was still the size of kids in Year four. She explained to me that people often teased someone about their own insecurities. She said it's called projecting your own insecurities. It's what I think you do with June. You she is shy and quiet, you see her as weak and so you get on her case. You still do it when we're not around. I don't have proof because June doesn't tell us, but I can tell. Besides, Ashley came to he over the Easter holidays. She told me that you were bothering June."

"She was getting on my case about school work," Tracy said. "She cares way too much about whether or not I do my homework or not. We'd just gotten up, and I was writing to people on my parchment. She just started bugging me about that stupid potions essay we had to do, and it angered me. So I started making fun of her and she left me alone. You know, June isn't always innocent. The rest of you just think I do it because I used to months ago. I stopped doing it after Ben's birthday party. June instigates it sometimes."

"By telling you to do homework?" I asked. "It's not an excuse."

"First of all, it's not her business or yours, or anyone elses if I do it. Secondly, she doesn't stop. She'll keep getting on my case and she knows full well I'll come to her when I want help. She knows I hate when she nags me, but she does it anyway and so I lash out. I am so tired of everyone just seeing me as the bad one. Usually something sets it off," Tracy said with annoyance.

"Well you used to instigate it," I said. "And you lash out too easily."

"I'm working on it," Tracy said.

"I know," I answered.

We were outside the Great Hall now. There were other students who were awake and headed inside. Tracy still had her arm around me, but she moved it and then turned to me quickly.

"Timmy, please don't tell anyone what I said about my parents," she said quickly.

"You didn't tell me anything," I said. "I mean not really anyway."

"Even the little bit I told you. I mean it Timmy. Look, I will do my best not to say anything to June anymore, but sometimes things do slip out. I'll try not to, but I don't want the others to know about my parents. Not yet anyway. Maybe someday I'll tell you lot more about my life, but I just can't right now," she said quickly.

"Sure," I replied with a shrug. "But I don't know what the big deal is. I mean, they aren't like Michael's parents were are they?"

"No," Tracy said. "Thankfully they aren't like that."

I didn't press the issue but I did have to wonder what could be so bad. If they weren't alcoholics then what was the big secret? She said they spoiled her and she was wanted, so I couldn't imagine they abused her or something. I really hoped someday she could confide in us. If it was something serious, I was sure even Jerry would want to help her out.


	6. Chapter 6

chapter six

I soon caught June's fever when it came to studying. I really wanted to do well on the first year exams. I wanted to take home good marks for mum. I really wanted to make up for how Ellen used to do as well. I wasn't doing it just for me, and I truly wanted good grades but I knew how much it had stressed mum out. Ellen was doing better now, but I still didn't think she was living up to her full potential. So it was up to me to take up the slack. I was going to be twelve very soon after all. I was becoming a man.

June and me had our birthdays close together, so we ended up celebrating our twelfth birthdays together when they did come. We'd done the same for Sally-Anne and Jerry too. Jerry's birthday had been at the end of March and then hers had been in April. I figured we could maybe do the same for Tracy and Colin too. Hers was in September and his was in November. It was a two month wait, but perhaps we could do something October especially when it came to our seventeenth birthdays. I thought a joint party sounded better than 6 different ones.

We decided we would take a break from studying when our birthdays approached. Twelve after all was a very important birthday. It was just one year from thirteen and we'd be teens. It meant being grown up and not being a little kid anymore. It meant no more baby-sitters either. I was sure that summer mum would let me stay home without Ellen watching over me. She'd been my baby-sitter when she was twelve, so it was only fair for me too.

It also meant that soon we wouldn't be at the bottom anymore. I knew that at times people still bothered the second years. Even Alana, Rory and Derek still got it, but they'd told us it got better every year. I figured second year would be a lot better than being a first year. There would be new students for me to watch over all the time. Next year we would start school and we wouldn't be so nervous.

June was excited because she was hoping to meet a sister to help out. As nice as that was, I didn't think she was ready for that yet. I didn't think it would happen in our second year, even if there was a shy girl. I figured she needed more time to gain confidence before she met someone to add to their group. I didn't think it would happen until our third or fourth year. June was determined enough, so I knew she would meet a younger girl, I just didn't think it would be that soon. I didn't say this, although Tracy did. For once though, no one spoke up because I was sure they all agreed. June just glared at her and then she pursed her lips together. I learned long ago that was her look of determination. She wanted to prove Tracy wrong, and likely the rest of us since we didn't speak up.

"You shouldn't be too disappointed if you don't meet someone next year," I told June one afternoon shortly afterwards. We were studying together, and then June started to vent about Tracy.

"You don't think I can do it either do you?" June asked me. "I'm not like I was at the beginning of the school year. I'm still shy sometimes but I am doing better. I don't know why people think I can't do it."

"It's not that I don't think you can do it," I replied. "I honestly think you are going to meet someone, and you'll keep the tradition going for Ashley. I just don't think it will be next year, even if there is a shy girl. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to offend you or discourage you. I just think you need more time to find yourself. You're still a bit insecure, especially when it comes to Tracy. I think you have to learn to handle Tracy better and help yourself around her before you can help someone else. Usually it's us who have to stick up for you, or Ashley or Ellen."

"I stick up for myself," June said sounding defensive.

"Not always," I said. "If you meet a girl next year, and you want to help her then by all means do it. I just don't think you're ready yet. I just hope you're not disappointed or discouraged if you don't I think you should give it another year. You're still so shy around strangers."

June sighed. "I know you're right, but ever since Tracy said that, I just want to prove her wrong."

"I know you do, but there are some things you shouldn't do just because you want to prove yourself to her," I said. "Tracy is just as insecure as you are you know."

"I know," June answered. "But sometimes I just want to wipe that smirk off her face. Sometimes I wish I could do what Ellen did and just slap her. I want things to work out with her, but most of the time she doesn't show me that side that she shows the rest of you. I just don't think she likes me. She says that she does, but I don't think she does."

"No I think she does," I said thinking about our conversation we'd had alone.

In fact, I was sure that out of all of us, Tracy respected June so much and that was why she got on her case. There was also quite a bit of jealousy there as well. June was so pretty and smart, and many people liked her even with the shyness. Plenty of people in our year liked her and came to her for help, although a lot of the time she had some trouble because of her shyness. It was why I didn't think she was ready to help out a new shy girl. Ever since I'd had my conversation with Tracy however, I believed that it was respect and jealousy all rolled into one. It was why out of all of us, Tracy bothered June the most. That, and June was an easy target.

"How do you figure? She never does that to Sally-Anne and believe it or not, but she can be more sensitive than me," June said. "Her and Jerry can be at each others throats at times, but you can tell she likes him anyway. And then there is you. We have all known that you're so insecure about your height, and yet she has never said anything about it. She preys on people's insecurities. She know's Colin wants nothing but his brothers approval, and even if she stuck up for him at New Years, she does at times bug him about that. So why would she like me."

"Because she respects you so much," I replied and June started to laugh.

"Where would you get a barmy idea like that?" She asked me.

"Ellen and Ashley," I answered.

"They're best friends and everyone knows they love each other," June said.

"Their friendship isn't that black and white," I said. "Don't you remember when we first met, and I told you about Ben and Ashley's relationship and how my sister was acting?"

"I don't think that is a good example. I understand their relationship now, but I can still get why Ellen was hurt either way," June said. "I know she was in the wrong now, but I can still see it from her point of view. The same thing will probably happen with our group."

"Likely," I answered. "But that situation is just the tip of the iceberg June. A lot of people think I am smart, or I give good advice sometimes. It's not any of that at all. I know everything just from watching my sisters friendships. I've heard the talks my mum has had with Ellen for years. I've always listened on the extendible or even read it in her diary."

June smirked at the last bit and I knew why.

"Okay, so how do you figure my situation is the same as theirs? From what Ashley told me, she and Ellen were best friends the moment they talked. Tracy and me aren't best friends," June said.

"Because Ellen has had that love hate relationship with Ashley since their second year," I said. "They have always been close but Ashley used to be more like you, only she used to be whiny apparently. Ellen always liked her, but she was glad that Ashley was this shy and weak girl. She got better but even in their second year she was still really shy even if she stopped being whiny. Well she dated this boy named Denver. I don't know if you've met him-" and June nodded, "-and they broke up. I guess it was the break up with Denver that truly changed her. She decided that she was no longer going to let people walk all over her, and so she worked hard to change. Ellen was always with a boyfriend, but she could see the changes in Ashley. She hated how she got more confident, or she was jealous anyway. She watched Ashley grow into herself and she also knew that Ben was in love with her in their second year. But Ellen also respected her for growing into herself as well. I think that's when the love hate relationship with them started. Ashley might even have it with Ellen, I'm not sure. I just know how Ellen felt about it. She didn't make things easy for Ashley. I had to listen to her complain to mum for years about it. She still does. Mum says Ellen has a competition with Ashley, but Ashley doesn't know it. It's the same with you and Tracy."

"Only Tracy and me aren't best friends," June said. "I get what you're saying I guess, but are you sure that's what it is?"

I nodded. "I think someday if we can get her to change that attitude, you two will be closer. I know your friendship isn't the exact same as Ellen and Ashley's but I can see it. I've just learned a lot from having Ellen as my big sister. I've learned a lot just from all of her friendships. I even told Jerry that. I think one day Tracy is going to do something really stupid and that will be her wake up call, and she'll change for the better."

"Because of Michael?" June asked and I nodded.

"You know about Michael? I told Jerry about him but no one else," I asked.

"Yes. Ashley hasn't told me too many details, but I do know some. Alana has also told me a few things. I've also thought the same thing with her, and I do want things to work out with her. It's just sometimes I don't know how much of her I can take either," June said. "I am going to keep trying to get along with her, and I don't want her to end up with no friends either. It's just I do hope it happens soon."

"Well we're on your side before hers," I said to her. "I hope you know that."

"I know," June said. "I just get the feeling someday it is just going to be the five of us, or even just you, Jerry, and me. Sometimes I think Sally-Anne will stick with Tracy no matter what. It's not that she doesn't like us, I just think out of all of us that she won't want Tracy to end up alone."

"I don't know about that one," I said as I thought about how much Sally-Anne wanted us all to be close.

"I just don't want our group to split up Timmy," June said. "So I just hope she does change for the good. I really do. I just want all six of us to be friends and to finish Hogwarts together. I want us to be like Ashley's group and Alana's group."

And I truly hoped for the same thing. I wanted us to be finishing Hogwarts together six years from now. I wanted us to be talking about being room mates or travelling. That meant trying to get Tracy to behave more. If it did end up being just the five of us that would be okay too, but it just didn't feel right. Perhaps that was how Ellen and her friends had felt too, and it was why they'd had a hard time letting Michael go.

I felt so nervous as our exams approached. These exams would determine if we would move onto the second year or not. I remembered years ago when Ellen would write, and she would tell me that she wasn't nervous at all. She never cared what her grades were either. All I could think about was passing every class. What if I failed one class? I didn't think Hogwarts had a summer programme so I would have to do it again the next year.

"Bloody hell Timmy, relax," Jerry said to me the night before our first exam. "We're going to pass. The only one who should be worried is Tracy."

Tracy stuck her tongue out at him. "I bet I get better grades than you."

"I'll take you on that bet," Jerry said. "You'll owe me a knut."

"A knut?" Colin asked him. "Come on mate, raise the stakes a bit. Make it at least a sickle or two."

"I'll take that bet," June said looking up quickly. "I have some sickles. I'll put in two sickles that Tracy will beat you," and then she winked at him.

I knew what both her and Colin were doing. Tracy was the only one of us who weren't taking the exams seriously. Despite the fact that we'd been teasing her that she'd fail, none of wanted her to. I didn't want her to be like my sister, but she actually had the same exact attitude that my sister had. I did have money too. I always had money. I'd been saving it all since I was a baby. I had it all from allowances and birthdays and other holidays. I really had no where else to spend it, so I actually had quite a bit. I was sure I even had more than my sister did. Not only that, but the old ladies in our building thought I was cute, and they used to pay me to do their chores for them. So I had money from that too. Mum usually converted it for me.

"I am in too," I said.

"Wait, so are all of you in on this?" Jerry asked. "I'll be out twelve sickles."

"And all the sickles will go to Tracy if she wins," June said.

Jerry frowned at her for a moment, and then his eyes widened. He obviously hadn't understood what we were doing at first. He let out a sigh.

"Fine," Jerry said. "Tracy, if you beat me at every exam, and I mean every exam I will personally give you twelve sickles. The rest of this lot doesn't have to. It's my bet against you. You will me twelve though if you don't. It has be every exam though."

"I can do it," Tracy said confidently and then she grabbed all her belongings and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Sally-Anne asked her.

"I need peace and quiet," she said. "It's harder to study in a group. I'm determined to beat Jerry."

And then she walked off quickly to the girls dormitories.

"You know I don't actually care if she passes or not do you?" Jerry asked once she was gone.

"We know, but at least it's making her hit to books," June said. "I don't think she is smart enough to figure out what we're doing. We might have to do it every year, especially in fifth year."

Jerry shrugged. "I have a feeling I'll get twelve sickles from her, so I don't care. We're upping it in fifth year though."

"I honestly think you're worried you're going to be out twelve sickles," Sally-Anne said grinning at him. "Will you want to keep doing it every year if she wins this year? We're only doing it to make her study and you said you don't care if she does or not. Do you really want to be out twelve sickles every year?"

"I have full confidence she won't beat me," Jerry said. "I'm not worried about it, but I also don't feel like listening to her bitch if she fails either. Even if she loses to me, she'll still get decent enough marks. Next year will be a nightmare if she fails a class."

"I don't think she'd fail," June said. "Ellen did the same thing every year and she passed. Tracy isn't that stupid. She's good in a lot of classes if she tries."

"So is anyone," Jerry said. "And I guarantee you and Timmy will be top of the year or at least close, so I don't know why you're worried. You two are the ones out of all of us could slack off and then pass with flying colours."

"I don't think so," June sang.

"I'll just be happy when this is over," Colin said. "Do you think we'll actually be able to sneak alcohol this time? I mean, all of the older students will be so happy to be done exams. Howard said it's one big party. The fifth and seventh years are so happy to be done with OWLs and NEWTs but the last party of the year is also a farewell to the seventh years too."

"I wouldn't count on it."

We looked up to see Alana, Rory and Derek all smiling at us. They each pulled a chair out to take a seat with us. I glanced over to where the sixth years were. Most were studying, but my sister was sitting on Keith and kissing him. I truly hated it when she did that, and it was quite a bit. Ben and Ashley were affectionate, but not like that. The entire common room was actually quiet for a change because people were studying. Not too far from where we were sitting, Anita and her second year friends were sitting. She had been staring at me, but the moment my eyes fell on her, she looked away.

"-just don't understand why they care so much," Jerry was saying.

I shook my head and focused back on my friends.

"Because they don't want you to make stupid mistakes. Trust me. The older students guard the alcohol," Rory said.

"But you lot never wanted to try it in your first year anyway," Colin said. "Michael offered it to you."

"But we did last year," Alana said. "And they wouldn't let us. We finally managed to get some but if we had trouble getting it in our second year, it will be harder for you. I bet it's going to be hard for us this year too."

"And if you do get some you won't let us try," Jerry said simply and the three third years shook their heads.

"Give it until at least after Christmas next year," Alana said.

"I always heard that having older friends meant they could get you the good stuff," Colin said frowning.

"But we can't do that for you," Alana said. "Not right now."

"Next year we will though. Once you're all at least thirteen or close to it. It's really not that long of a wait. It's just that I know Ellen and Ashley wouldn't want you lot to drink, and we are going to respect that by not helping you," Derek said. "If you manage to get it on your own, feel free to try it. If not, just wait until we feel comfortable with it."

"Well I am going to try this year," Jerry said and I nodded in agreement.

"Well all I'll say is good luck," Rory said with a grin. "You won't get near it, but if you manage to actually get a drink, maybe we'll reconsider."

"You will reconsider," Alana said. "I am not getting involved with it. I don't think first years should be drinking."

"Anyway, I notice the little bitch isn't around," Derek said. "Did you lot finally get sick of her and give her the boot?"

"No, she is studying," Sally-Anne said. "We tricked her into studying. She went down to the dormitory to do it."

"And how did you manage that one?" Derek asked her.

I noticed Sally-Anne blushed a little. I remembered her confession months ago about how she liked him. She must have still felt the same way. No one noticed this. It made me think back to Tracy. She'd told me she liked someone, but she hadn't told me who it was. I'd forgotten about it. I wondered if I could get it out of her later.

"We bet her," Sally-Anne said.

"Well I bet her," Jerry said. "I will be twelve sickles richer. I know I'll beat her at every class. I told her it had to be every class."

"Perhaps that what Ben should have done with Ellen years ago," Alana said.

"She wouldn't have fallen for that," I said. "And she wouldn't have taken that bet. She would know what Ben was doing, but she wouldn't care anyway. She just doesn't care about school work. Even now she doesn't even though her grades have improved. She is so sure that she will be a professional Quidditch player. She is just doing it to get everyone off her back. I know she won't take her NEWTs seriously next year. I just hope she doesn't get T's again."

"Tracy doesn't care either, but she does care about proving people wrong," Colin said. "So it was easy to convince her."

"Well maybe she'll stay down in the girls dorms all week then. We won't have to listen to her," Jerry said.

"I still don't understand why you're hanging out with her," Alana said. "She is a bitch. She is always so rude to me. June told me about the diary incident as well. That would have been it for me."

"She was redeeming herself before that though," Sally-Anne said. "If it hadn't been for that, we would have stopped talking to her. She is a lot better. She has her moments, but she isn't like she was in September."

"That would have ended it for me," Rory said. "That would be unforgivable for me. You lot are in for years of drama."

"Well it's almost the same as with Michael," Derek said to Rory. "He was causing problem's for Ashley's group but they stuck around. He did a 360 after Anne dumped him and the alcohol incident."

"But his parents are alcoholics," Rory said.

"Which makes it worse," Derek said. "Look, you know I like and respect Michael now. However, we all know what he used to be like. He knows the affects of alcohol but he tried to make us drink it when we didn't want to. He was a prat long before that too. He used to pick on us too. After that night, he did his best to change and it's why we started to like him. He reached out to us to apologize and now he is a different person."

"I thought you hated Tracy," Rory said. "So why are you defending her? She read Ellen's diary and is always making fun of June."

"I don't like her and I think she is a toxic person but I can understand why this lot is sticking by her," Derek said. "It's the same reason for why Ashley stuck with Michael even though he made fun of her for five years."

"And he still can at times," Alana said. "Ashley said she thinks he still has some resentment for her. I guess I get it too. I do hate to admit it, but she is much better than she used to be. I don't like her still because she goes out of her way to be rude to me, but I have seen the changes. I just think all of you need to keep calling her out on her bitchiness. Maybe you could even put her on probation like Ashley did with Michael."

"She kind of is with me," I said. "I told her that she'd better not ever reveal anything from Ellen's diary to anyone else or we're over."

"Yes but she is going to do something else that will make you all angry," Alana said. "And that's when you're going to have to do it. You don't even have to do it if you don't want to. Just tell her that you might have to put her on probation. All I am saying is to not let it get as bad as it did with Michael. I don't think you should let it get that far. You don't want to spend almost four years of that."

"No we definitely don't," Jerry said.

"Anyway," Rory said. "We came over to study with you. We figured we could help you all out with your exams. We only did them two years ago after all. We're studying for ours too."

"I'll help you out mate," Derek said to Jerry. "If it will help you beat that little bitch, I'll be very happy."

And that was how we spent our evening, and then the rest of the week. I had to admit, the help from the older kids really did help. They remembered what they had to know for our exams, so they helped us out quite a bit. Tracy very rarely joined us. I had a feeling that she was having late nights and early mornings. She looked exhausted everyday. June told me that she was studying by wand light at night. Derek was determined to help Jerry beat her, so he was spending a good amount of time by his side and helping him. I had to wonder how he was going on his own exams.

For me it came so easily as did both the written and practical ones, even when it came to History of Magic. June and Sally-Anne were the two people who were the best at remembering in that class, especially Sally-Anne. She could rattle off dates that most people had forgotten. She was also one of the best in Transfiguration. It was the class that her and Alana both helped us study because it was one of Alana's best classes as well.

I was so happy when I finally put my quill down for the final examination. First year was basically over, or at least I hoped it was. I was sure that I had passed everything though. Even though the sixth years usually took up the one corner of the room, the six of us all sat there. I was sure that Ellen would shoo us away later, but for the moment none of them were around. We all flopped down in exhaustion. I watched in surprise when Tracy sat on Jerry's lap. He had taken one of the armchairs, and she joined him. It was something I thought only girlfriends did with boyfriends or close friends did.

"You're going to owe me twelve sickles," she told him tiredly.

I waited for him to tell her to get off, but all he did was shift a little as if to get into a more comfortable position. I was actually curious about that though. What was it like to have a girl in your lap? The older girls did it all the time. Boys apparently liked it. Was that why Jerry didn't seem to mind.

"I think it's the other way around," he told her. "But that shouldn't matter to you since your parents spoil you."

"Well they won't have to once I have your twelve sickles," Tracy said.

"Because twelve sickles is so much," Colin said rolling his eyes.

"It is for fun," Tracy said. "I never knew your family was rolling in it Colin."

"We're not exactly, but twelve sickles can only take you so far," Colin told her. "I'm sure you'll still need daddy's money."

"Likely," Tracy sang.

She seemed determined to be in a good mood. I wondered if Jerry felt the same way too. He didn't care at all that the girl he despised was sitting on him, and he was even joking with her the way he would with June.

"Think there is a future couple there?" I whispered to June with amusement. She was sitting close beside me.

"Don't let him hear you say that," she giggled. "I'm surprised he is letting that happen."

But everyone was in too much of a good mood too care. We were basically free for the rest of the school year. When the sixth years returned, no one commented on the fact that we had taken over their corner. They all just sat around us in the empty spots. Not even Ellen said a word, and generally she would be the first to say something, but she was just grinning ear to ear. She seemed to be too focused on Keith to care about me anyway. Jared flopped down on June's other side and grinned at her.

"You are a cute little thing," he said to her.

"She's twelve you know," Ashley said to him as June turned red.

"I know. I don't mean it like that," Jared said to her. "I can't help but notice when someone is cute though. When you do get to be around our age though, you're going to have all the blokes after you... unless they already are."

When he said this, I felt instant annoyance and I couldn't figure out why. It wasn't the fact that he was complimenting her. I could tell that he meant nothing bad by it. I just didn't like the thought of boys actually wanting her that way. She was quite pretty. I had always noticed that, but I didn't want her to have a line up of boys even though I was sure it would be true. I'd heard Ellen and Ashley comment on that before about her and Sally-Anne. I didn't care if boys liked Sally-Anne, but I didn't want them going after June. Maybe it was just that protective part of me when it came to her.

"So when will the big party start at?" Jerry asked.

Tracy was no longer sitting on him, but they were still sharing the armchair together. She had moved once the older kids had started to join us.

"Yeah we've heard there are always big parties at the end of exams!" Colin spoke up excitedly.

"Not until tomorrow night," Stan told him. "We're having a birthday party for Michael tomorrow in Hogsmeade. So we're going to celebrate the end of exams and his seventeenth tomorrow."

"Don't even think about trying to drink either Timmy," Ellen called out to me. "You know the deal."

"I know, I know," I said as I rolled my eyes.

"What is the big deal?" Jared asked her. "I mean, I don't recommend pulling a Henson, but most of us snuck it."

"Because they don't need to be drinking in the first year," Ashley said. "There are so many years they have a chance to drink, but I just don't think people should be getting drunk at eleven or twelve. Even thirteen is pushing it."

"None of these kids are eleven anymore," Jared said.

"I don't want Timmy drinking yet," Ellen stated. "Maybe a year from now, but not in the first year."

"You know when you're gone I will be drinking," I told her. "I'll be a third year then."

"You've told me. That will be in two years."

"Less than that," Tracy said. "And I will be thirteen in September you know. So I think I should at least get a drink."

"No," Ashley said as Ellen said: "I really don't care what you do."

"You're not the boss of me," Tracy said to Ashley. "Just because the rest of this lot does as you say, it doesn't mean I will. You're all hypocrites to tell us that we can't drink but all of you have for years. I believe the legal age is seventeen. I bet most of the people sitting here were drinking in the first year."

"Some of us were," Hank said. "But we shouldn't have been. Wait until you're a sixth year and you'll understand our point. I get it; believe me, we all do. It used to annoy the hell out of us when the older kids would tell us no."

"I hated it when Barry or Brenda told us no," Ben added. "Barry even let me try some wine in my first year and Brenda flipped out. Although with her, she was still flipping out about it in when I was a fifth year. My siblings told me I'd understand some day too and I scoffed at that. Now I get it. You really should wait until at least the end of next year. Ashley is right. You'll have years to drink eventually."

"Whatever," Tracy said and she folded her arms. "But only Ben is a prefect. He is the only one who can say no."

"Actually I am too," Sarah said. "And I am saying no."

Tracy opened her mouth to protest more, but Jerry elbowed her and shook his head. Tracy let out a sigh and then sat back with her arms still folded. As she did this, Alana, Rory and Derek made their way over. There weren't many spots left, but they managed to find a spot. Most people were squeezed together.

"Since when do we let the munchkins join us?" An older girl I wasn't too familiar with asked.

I believed her name was Melanie. I knew that Ellen and the rest of this lot used to have problems with her in the past. She was sitting on Jared and she had an arm around him. I wondered if they were dating or something. I'd heard that he wasn't the type to settle down, although he had dated my sister briefly and he had been in love with Ashley for years. At least this was according to Ellen anyway. Melanie was looking around at all of us with annoyance.

"They're not hurting anyone," Ashley told her.

"Yes but it's crowded and I thought this was our corner," Melanie said.

I glanced over at Ellen who shot Melanie a glare. I was sure that she didn't fully trust her.

"If we invite people over here, they can sit over here," Ellen said to her. "It's my brother and his friends. We always sit over here but it's not actually our corner you know. Everyone just knows that we've always sat here but it's not like we own it."

I stared at my sister with surprise. She was the first to tell me to go away, but she didn't care at all.

"Well, I don't feel like baby-sitting," Melanie said and I glared at her indignantly. I could see that this irritated all my friends and the third years as well. "Let's go have some privacy Jared."

Melanie stood up and she held out a hand to Jared who took it. The two of them walked off. I could see Tracy glaring after her as she went. Thankfully with them leaving, this seemed to free up some room.

"We can go if you want us to," June spoke up.

"We don't want you to leave," Ellen told her. "Just ignore Melanie. It's the end of the school year. After the year we just had, I really just want to relax."

I almost wanted to ask her what had changed. Normally she was so against me being around her and her friends.

"Sometimes I don't think Melanie has really changed," a girl I believed was named Erica said. "I mean a lot of the time she is nice, but then she has that attitude."

"But what has changed?" Tracy asked the question I was sure that everyone else was wondering. "I mean sometimes you let us hang out, but a lot of the time you tell us to go away. So why is it okay now?"

"Because once and a while is okay," Ellen replied. "And right now it's the end of the school year and we all just want to relax. If you lot want to sit here, I don't care. I can't speak for everyone else but I really don't care at the moment. I am just glad I don't have to think about school work again until next year... well except with some of the summer homework, but who cares about that right now."

"I really don't care," Hank said. "But then again I've never cared about stuff like that. I have friends of all ages."

The rest of the sixth years murmured their consent. So we all sat back and relaxed. And as I'd noticed in the past, it really was easy to talk to all of them. Ellen always made such a big deal about the age difference but most of these people were seventeen, and I could talk and joke with them the same way I did with my friends. I'd noticed how easy it was to talk to Alana, Rory and Derek but it was the same with the older kids too. I was sure it was why Ashley had no problem talking to June and Alana, or even the rest of us. Age really didn't matter. I'd heard that saying before, and with dating I knew at our ages it did matter, but not with friendships.

I decided right there and then that I would never make the younger kids feel the way Ellen or that Melanie girl made us feel. When I was as old as the sixth years, if I got along with the first or second years, I would let them sit with us. It really depended if we got along though. I knew that for some of the older students, some of the younger ones were annoying. I didn't think my group was though. Sure we had our moments, but some of our other fellow first years were worse. The second years were actually more annoying than we were. They even annoyed us.

June seemed to come to the same conclusion as me. Later on, when everyone was into their own conversations, she turned to me.

"I think when we're older we should welcome the first years," she said. "I'm still planning to keep the sister thing going for Ashley, but I mean something like this. If we get along with them, I don't want them to feel inferior. I think that age shouldn't matter when it comes to friends. If I find a sister then I want her and her friends to feel welcome to hang out with us. Look how well we get along with Alana, Rory and Derek. Now this lot are treating us like we're their age."

"I agree," I said. "We won't pull a Melanie or Ellen attitude."

I knew the rest of our friends would agree, except maybe Tracy. Right now she liked being a part of the older kids, but who knew what her opinion would be three or four years from now. I could see her being like what Michael used to be. It would be five against one, and if we hung out with Alana, Rory and Derek it would be eight against one. I could see us hanging out more with them as we got older. Alana was June's best friend after all.

Our marks were posted very soon after that. I did a lot better than I expected, and to Jerry's dismay, Tracy actually beat him. He didn't look very happy as he handed her the twelve sickles. June ended up beating me but it was only by half a point, and this made her determined to beat me next year by a lot more. Jerry, Colin and Sally-Anne all did about average.

"So that means we are basically second years then," Sally-Anne said as we boarded the train. "We all passed. Next year we won't be bottom of the barrel anymore."

"I'll be so glad about that, but some of the older kids will still pick on us," Tracy said. "Derek and Rory said they still got picked on and they're hoping that next year people will finally take them seriously. I bet it will be our fourth year when the older kids stop."

"You're probably right about that," Jerry said.

He was still sulky about losing to Tracy, so he sounded moody when he said that. He was staring out the window at the castle which looked so far off. It sat up on the mountain and actually looked small from this perspective. As I gazed at it, I realized how much I would miss it. I looked forward to a couple months of freedom, but I would miss the grounds and hanging out in the common room, and sitting by the lake and trying to feed the giant squid. I would miss the Hogwarts ghosts. Even Peeves the Poltergeist.

Moments later, the train lurched and then it started to move. We all gazed out the window until the castle disappeared.

"I almost feel like this year was a dream," June said. "I mean, I know we're coming back but it's going to be weeks. Now we're returning to the muggle world and everything won't be magical anymore. I've missed my parents a lot, but I feel like one of those kids in muggle movies. You know, the ones who find magical worlds and then return home."

"But we'll be coming back," Tracy said. "That's something I always liked about those movies. I knew someday I'd be going to a magical world but with me, I'd stay in it."

"But doesn't your family do magic anyway?" Colin asked her. "Aren't you like Timmy's family? I don't understand why muggleborn families stay in the muggle world."

"Well my parents are half-bloods but they're like Timmy's mum. They wanted us to experience both worlds. They grew up that way too. They missed their muggle stuff too much at Hogwarts. They wanted the convenience of magic but they still wanted to use their muggle stuff. You have to admit, a lot of the muggle electronics are brilliant. Muggles find ways to live their lives without magic, and their technology is brilliant," Tracy said.

"But you're still in a magical world," Jerry said to her. "It's different for June. The rest of us have magical parents and so we still see magic when we go home. Even for you lot who live in the muggle world. June only experiences at school."

"Alana said I'll get used to it. She said she felt the same way too," June said. "I wish I could go home and still experience magic. At Christmas break I felt so out of place. I didn't have friends my own age, but I do talk to the younger kids in my neighbourhood. I felt so different from them now. I always did, but now it's even more than before."

"Well we'll have to get together a lot this summer," I said. "Mum has always let Ellen's friends come over and I think now that I am older she'll let me too. I really don't think she'll make me have a baby-sitter this year. I really hope not. I know Ellen doesn't want to watch over me, and I don't need her to look after me."

"I know what you mean," Jerry said. "I'm worried that my parents will make Damian look after me. They did for my sister after her first year. Maybe now that we're all older though she won't. I just kind of wonder with the firework incident and everything."

"You never talk about your sister," Tracy said. "I've only heard you mention her a handful of times this year. We never even met her this year even though we saw a lot of Damian."

"Lucy keeps to herself," Jerry answered. "We were closer when we were little but she changed after You-Know-Who's takeover. When she is at home, she just hides in her room. A lot of the time I think she tries to hide from Damian because he is bossy, but I don't think that's all. She's in Ravenclaw but she doesn't have friends, but she chose that. It isn't like with some people who are too shy. She just doesn't want to be close to anyway. I don't know why because it was a scary time, but no one we know died. We just had to hide away."

"That changed a lot of people though," I said thinking about my own family. "Look at my parents."

"Is that why they divorced?" Tracy asked me. "Because they had to be cooped up together for a year. That happens with some families sometimes. They just fight and the stress from You-Know-Who finding you makes it worse. Plus they can't go to work and you have to try to find a way to get food so that is stressful."

"That basically describes the entire situation," I said with surprise. How did she know so much about it? It was the first time I'd brought it up. "But mum told us at Christmas that they were never in love anyway. She said they thought they were but being in hiding brought it out. They were together for shallow reasons."

Tracy nodded and I thought she had a knowing look on her face. Had the same happened with her parents too then? How else could she describe the situation so well if it hadn't? Was I one step closer to figuring her out? Was that why she was so bitchy at times? Everyone else was staring at her too.

"How would you know that?" Jerry asked her with wide eyes. He looked from me to her.

"Muggle programs," she said quickly.

"I thought you didn't remember much about being in hiding and the take-over," June said.

"I don't remember anything," she said.

"So your parents fought because of You-Know-Who though," I said. "Did they divorce?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Tracy said. "Why do you lot even care anyway?"

"Because you're our friend," Jerry stated.

"Right, I am your friend," she said. "And yet you act as if you're obligated to hang out with me. Why are you suddenly so interested in all my secrets?"

"You don't have to talk to us about it if you don't want to," Sally-Anne said. "But I don't know why you or Timmy get so defensive about it. It's like you said, sometimes families fall apart."

"I just don't like talking about the divorce," I said. "It was a really stressful time and dad never comes to see us. That's basically what happened with my family. Mum and dad couldn't handle being cooped up together and they started to fight. Eventually it got worse even when we were out of hiding. I had to see it almost everyday. They fought non-stop and dad started to sleep on the couch a lot. Eventually mum told dad that she couldn't take it anymore, and she wanted a divorce. Dad did see Ellen and me at first but then he turned his back on us. Mum said that she thinks it because dad feels like magic betrayed him. It's not just that though. I never told you but dad has a new family. The woman moved in with him with a boy and girl with the same age differences as Ellen and me. What makes it worse is the boy is my age when the war happened and the girl is Ellen's age when the war happened."

It was the most I'd ever said about it. I hated talking about it, but I knew they wanted to know as well and now that I knew there was a mystery to Tracy, I wanted to know her secret. Now I understood why my friends felt the way they did with my secret. They just wanted to understand to help me.

"I didn't know it was that bad," Jerry said. "I understand why you don't talk about it. That's brutal."

"And I think it's why Ellen turned out the way she did," I said and then I looked to Tracy. "No one here is going to make fun of you for it if that is what happened. I remember our talk that one morning. I haven't told anyone but you really should. Why are you getting so angry about it?"

"My parents aren't divorced," Tracy said.

"But they don't get along," Colin stated.

Tracy sighed and looked out the window. The scenery was flying by rather quickly.

"No they don't," she finally said after a moment. "I said I was spoiled but it's because they try to buy my love. I'm the only one still at home, so it's me they fight over. They don't believe in divorce so since they're so unhappy with each other, they fight constantly. That's the result from being hiding together. My brother was able to move out after the war and my sister was in her sixth year after the war, so she was able to be at school all the time so she missed out on the fighting. They did it to her too, but not as much as me since I'm so much younger than my brother and sister. I was seven when this all started. As soon as my sister got her NEWTs she moved out too. Neither one had to witness it or really deal with it. They compete with buying me things and giving me gold. They also try to separate their time with seeing me, which is why it's sometimes hard for me to convince them to let me go to a friends. It's why I stayed for Easter. Neither actually wanted me to, but I told them they'd have to come to Hogwarts and drag me home. I didn't want to deal with that, and I probably will have to this summer."

Tracy said all of this but she didn't look away from the window. All of us exchanged glances. It explained so much. We'd all said that there had to be more to her attitude and that was likely what it was. I remembered how I'd felt with the fighting at the age of six. I still got angry about it at times, but not like I had in the past. I hadn't cried about it in years. When I thought about dad abandoning us for another family, I did get angry and it was why I hated talking about it. However, sharing this secret with my friends felt freeing. I didn't realize I could have anything in common with Tracy, but we actually had a lot. Although dad had abandoned us, I felt her situation was almost worse. I missed seeing my dad, but mum and dad had tried to buy my love at one point too, and I'd hated it at that young age. Tracy had been dealing with it for years.

"Well you can probably come over this summer," Sally-Anne said to her.

"And mum and dad might let me have people over too," June said.

"We will have try and get the six of us all together," Colin said. "We'll try weekends or something."

"I don't want this to ever leave the six of us," Tracy said looking away from the window. Her eyes looked bloodshot, but no one commented on it. "Even if we fight or something. This is something I never want anyone to know besides us. I don't want to talk about it again after this either, not unless I bring it up. I don't want pity or anything like that."

"I never noticed that when I was at your place," Sally-Anne said. "They seemed overly lovey dovey. Is that why it annoyed you? You looked so angry about it at breakfast."

Tracy nodded. "It's all about showing off. They don't want people to know their marriage is bad. They don't even sleep in the same room. Remember when we walked past one of the spare rooms and you asked why it looked like it was used? There were clothes everywhere and I said it was from when my brother visited? That's dad's room."

"I thought that seemed odd," Sally-Anne said. "I didn't know understand why your brothers clothes would be draped all over everything and the bed looked slept in. It seemed odd that your parents would leave it that way if he didn't live there."

"Well don't mention it if I invite you over, any of you," Tracy said. "I don't know if they'll let me have the boys over or not maybe just Sally-Anne and June, but if they do I'll let all six of you come over. We have enough rooms to spare. My parents used to let my siblings invite their friends over but that changed. I don't know if they'll want to keep putting on a show like that."

"You'll invite me over?" June asked looking surprised.

Tracy shrugged. "If you want to. I don't think they'll have a problem if you or Sally-Anne come over."

June stared at her incredulously. Around Christmas she had been so adamant about just letting Sally-Anne come over, but now she didn't care. I figured she must have decided not to push the issue because she just nodded. This was a different side to Tracy. She seemed so vulnerable. Her home life had to have been the reason for her attitude. She was just a very insecure girl. Tracy looked out the window again while the rest of us exchanged looks again.

"Well, we'll talk to our parents when we get home," Jerry finally said. "And then maybe we can schedule when we'll see each other."

The witch with the trolley cart knocked on our door and asked if we wanted anything. I was about to reach into my pocket but Tracy jumped up quickly.

"We'll take the lot, it's on me," she said and she reached into her pocket to pull out the twelve sickles Jerry had given her, but there were some knuts as well.

After she brought all the food into the compartment, she took her seat across from Jerry and smiled at him.

"At least you'll get something from the money you lost," she said to him.

Jerry winked at her. I had a feeling she wanted us to move onto happier topics but I did too. I didn't want to talk about my parents and I actually didn't like seeing her so insecure. Perhaps this was the step in the right direction for her. Maybe from then on she'd be friendlier with us, especially June. She didn't seem to have a problem with letting June go to her place now. Tracy had bought us six bottles of pumpkin juice. I raised up my bottle and said:

"To a good summer!"

June followed suit and clinked her bottle against mine and the rest of them got the idea. We all grinned at each other. It would be a good summer, and the next time we got back on the train, we'd be second years.


	7. Chapter 7

chapter seven

Summer

At the beginning of the summer, mum thought that Ellen be baby-sitting me for the summer again. However, we both protested this. Ellen didn't want to look after me anymore than I wanted her to look after me. It angered me because she had been my age when she'd started baby-sitting me. Fortunately, mum actually listened to us and agreed that I could finally be on my own.

I was thankful for this, especially since Ellen and me weren't getting along. I was sure that she was in charge, she would make me stay in my room or something. All I did was tell her that my grades were better than hers and she got so defensive about it. After that, she just seemed to be in a snippy mood all the time around me. I wasn't going to take her attitude, so I would give it back to her. After being around Tracy for almost a year, I knew I didn't have to take it.

I didn't understand what made her so angry anyway. She seemed happy with her life, but she just seemed moody and anytime mum complimented me or I talked happily about my grades or my friends, she would give me attitude. She would tell me to stay away from her and not follow her around. It was like she thought since she'd be seventeen soon she could do what she wanted.

One evening, I asked mum to measure me. I wanted to know if I'd grown anymore since Easter. Most of clothes didn't fit, so mum had to take me to get new ones. Ellen sat huffily on the couch while mum brought out a measuring tape.

"You know there is a spell for that," Ellen said to her. "Why don't you just do that?"

"Because I don't know that spell," mum said.

"Well you should," Ellen said.

Ellen and I had discussed this after she measured me over the break. I didn't think mum or dad knew many spells. I felt as if now Ellen was throwing this in mum's face. Why would she want to do that? Why was she so angry with mum and me? Mum didn't respond to her. She just took the tape and measured me.

"Half an inch since then," mum said to me.

"Just half an inch?" I asked disappointedly. "I grew all those inches in six months and now in three months it's just half an inch?"

"Well you had a growth spurt but half an inch is still good," mum said. "I noticed as soon as I picked you two up that you'd grown. You look different as well. You've matured."

Ellen let out a snort at this. "Matured? Right. He can still act as if he is six. Normal twelve year olds don't get excited over the things he does. He still plays wizard tag with his friends. Oh yes, he is so grown up! You still want him to have a baby-sitter."

"Check the attitude Ellen," mum said to her.

"Because you're just so mature right?" I asked her. "I'm more mature than you were at twelve? At least I got good marks. What is maturity Ellen? Snogging as many boys you can? How about shagging up with them? How about letting yourself fail?"

"Oh so because you get good grades you're better than me?" She asked me.

"Yes because I care about my future!" I said to her angrily. "You're not as mature as you think you are Ellen!"

"Kids, enough with the fighting," mum said to us. "Why have you been fighting so much? Did something happen at school?"

"Yes, he happened!" Ellen said with annoyance. "He shouldn't have been sorted into Hufflepuff."

And then she got up and walked off to her room. We heard her slam her door hard. Mum pursed her lips together.

"Mum, she is always so angry with me," I said. "I don't know what happened. She was happy at school but she just seems angry. Is she having a girl problem or something?"

As much as I didn't want to know about girls and their periods, I did. I'd grown up with Ellen after all and Tracy had gotten hers. She had felt the need to announce it to us for some reason. I'd heard most girls were embarrassed by that, but not Tracy. We always knew when it was coming because she got bitchier than usual. I knew when Ellen was on hers or about to as well. She'd never been this bad before, but perhaps something else was bothering her. Usually she was angry when something was stressing her out. I just didn't know what.

"Maybe," mum said. "But she has never acted that way before on it. Something else is bothering her. I don't think she is fighting with her friends because she talks about them a lot, and I know things are fine with Keith. You didn't see anything at school did you?"

"No," I answered. "She was happy at school. She actually let us hang out with her a few times. It wasn't until the car ride home that was moody."

"Well I'll talk to her later," mum said to me. "Why don't you invite your friends over? You two aren't getting along, so if you keep yourself occupied it might help until I get to the root of the problem. She doesn't seem as if she is feeling well. She has been tired a lot lately too. I also thought I heard her throwing up yesterday morning."

"Jerry has been asking to come over. I don't know about the girls," I said. "Tracy's and Sally-Anne's parents want them home for the time being. June said she might be able to. I know she has plans with Alana. Colin really hasn't gotten back to me yet."

"Well just invite them over when you want," mum said. "I'd rather you stay busy and you can go over to their places as well."

I was grateful for this. I was bored in our little flat. I never used to have that problem before. I used to be happy just to swim in the pool or to play in my room on rainy days. Now I was too old for playing and I really didn't know the kids in my building too well anymore. I wanted my friends and I didn't want to be around Ellen. She was being rude to me for no reason, and I was just fed up with it. Anytime I brought up my grades, she would get defensive. Perhaps if she had worked harder in school, she wouldn't be so annoyed with me. I was still disappointed in her for what she'd done over the years.

Now that I was older, I understood more about what she'd done with the drinking and smoking weed too. Neither were too bad when it was once and a while, but when she was supposed to be baby-sitting me, she'd been too busy with the muggles in our building. I was worried that she'd even been drunk when she was supposed to be baby-sitting me. What if I'd hurt myself when I was eight? She had gotten herself into trouble so much over the years. She was someone I looked up to, but she hadn't been a very good role model. Ashley and Ben were my role models and that was sad.

I told Jerry all of this while we sat on the balcony. We were playing one of my old board games. It was for younger kids but I didn't really have much things for my age level. Jerry didn't seem to care at first but eventually we got bored with it. As I complained, one of the game board pieces rolled away from us and fell off.

"I think it hit that bloke down there!" Jerry said laughing as he jumped up to look over. "He's looking up."

"I don't think it did," I said. "It was light. It probably got blown further. He isn't even looking at us."

Jerry grabbed another game piece and threw it at him, or tried to. I stood up to look. The bloke was no longer looking up.

"You missed him," I said. "The pieces are too light. We need something heavier. I have some old toys I don't play with anymore."

"Well go get them," Jerry said.

I hurried inside to grab some toys I hadn't touched since I was about six. I wouldn't miss them. I gathered them up and then hurried back outside. Jerry was peering over the balcony. When he heard me come out, he turned and smiled at me.

"Brilliant!" He said when he saw how full my arms were. "There are more people now."

"I don't know why I've never thought of this before," I said. "I've been out here so many times since I was little but I've never done this. Mum has never told us not to either."

"Well it's not like we're going to hurt anyone," Jerry said. "Use the alphabet blocks first."

I grabbed one of my old wooden alphabet blocks and hurled it off. We quickly jumped back and then waited a moment before we looked over. A few people were looking around, so we moved back again. We waited about five minutes and then we did it again. We were about half-way through my blocks when mum stepped out.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing!?" She shouted.

Jerry and I jumped away from the edge to look at her.

"Are you throwing things at people down there?" She asked as she stepped closer to us. "I am surprised at you Timmy! You talk about how grown up you are, and then you revert back to an eight year old! Take all of this back inside right now! I'd better not catch you doing it again!"

"What is the big deal?" I asked her. "We're not hurting anyone. These wooden blocks won't hurt or at least not a lot and people don't know it's us. They haven't looked at our balcony yet. So they won't blame us or you."

"Because you shouldn't be throwing things at people!" Mum said. "Especially off the balcony. Inside now!"

"I thought you wanted me to bring this in," I said to her.

"Timmy, don't give me attitude. If you want Jerry to stay over, you will go inside right now!"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. With a wave of her wand mum made all the stuff come inside. I had a feeling she sent it all down to my room as it vanished. I really didn't see what the big deal was. We hadn't hurt anyone. The things landed around them and not on them. It just confused them.

"Let's go," I said to Jerry as we went in.

"I have enough problems with your sister," mum called after me. "I don't need you starting Timmy, and I know you know better than this!"

I didn't respond. So this was about Ellen and not me. It made sense. Mum was so frustrated with her lately, even if she had a turn around since last summer. She wouldn't stop giving us attitude. I figured us throwing things off wasn't that big of a deal. Jerry and I headed down the hall and into my room. The things I had taken outside were now in a pile on my floor.

"I'd better put this away. I still don't see what the problem is," I said.

Jerry shrugged. "I don't know. Parents can be weird sometimes. Mum and dad still haven't let go of the firework thing yet. It's why I wanted to get away so bad. I'm not even grounded, but if I do anything wrong, they bring it up. I went out flying yesterday and I flew up higher than usual and dad flipped out. We're not supposed to fly too hard. He didn't even bring that up. He just told me things are going downhill since the fireworks. I brought home good grades and I really didn't have detentions. They think I have an attitude even though I don't."

"Same here," I said. "That's not the first time she told me not to give her attitude. I think it's because of Ellen that she is treating me this way. She usually compliments me and she is so happy that I am done school work, and yet she said I gave her attitude when she told me to go to bed. I didn't have a bed time at Hogwarts. Why do I have one now? I'm sure Ellen didn't have one at twelve."

"Maybe they think they need to get a bunch of parenting in before we go back," Jerry said to me.

"Maybe," I said. "That might be part of mums problem and also Ellen too. I don't know why she seems moody when things are going good in her life."

"I wonder about the others. I've only heard from Sally-Anne," Jerry said. "June did write to me on the first day of summer, but she hasn't gotten back to me. I don't know why. I thought I was one of her best friends. Colin hasn't either. Tracy doesn't write me."

"She hasn't me either," I said. "Maybe we should write them all. Do you think Tracy will change now that we know the truth?"

"No," Jerry said. "It's obvious she is so insecure about all of that. She's going to be a bitch again when she gets stressed. I notice she gets like that the most when she is stressed. I'll write Colin and June and you can write Sally-Anne and Tracy. We'll tell them we're hanging out."

"I'm curious about Tracy's house," I said. "I think she lives in a big house. She has never said so, but it sounds like that. Maybe she'll let us go over there."

"Maybe," Jerry said. "I'm not sure I want to be honest. I'll go if she invites me, but it's not something I am going to want. I'd rather go to Colin's or June's. I like coming here the most even if your flat is small. You have a pool."

"Well we'll see what they're doing," I said. "And I don't care where we go as long as we hang out. I'm just so bored this summer. I actually do get bored here. Ashley said all of us can go to Ben's pool party too."

"I bet Ellen will like that," Jerry said with a grin as he pulled out his parchment. "She hates when Ashley invites us."

"Yes I know," I said with a grin. "Ellen is being such a bitch this summer, so it's even better."

"Wasn't she being one last summer too?" Jerry asked as he wrote Colin's number at the top of his parchment.

"Well yes, but this year it's for no reason," I said. "She just has this attitude with mum and me but she is friendly with everyone else. We never did anything to her to deserve that. So I've been rubbing my grades in her face. At first I wasn't, but she gets angry every time I bring them up so now I do it on purpose."

I pulled out my own parchment to write to Sally-Anne and Tracy. Even though Jerry wasn't curious, I really was about Tracy's house. I asked them both when they wanted us to get together and if they thought we'd be invited over to their places. That one was mainly for Tracy.

I can go over there or anyone else's. Mum and dad don't want me inviting boys over here though. Don't ask why. It doesn't make sense except maybe because I am home alone most days. My brother is gone so maybe it's being unsupervised or something. They said maybe in a few years. I might have a sleep over with Tracy and June soon. Maybe you can have Colin over when I do that, and then we can all talk to each other on the parchments when we do that. It will be like we're all together but we're not. Mum and dad want me home for at least the first few weeks but after that I can go over.

I read this out loud to Jerry. A few minutes after Sally-Anne got back to me, Tracy did.

I talk to mum and dad about it. They said maybe end of July or the beginning of August all six of you can come over. They said they'll fix up a couple of the rooms for everyone to sleep in. I think they want to prepare for your visit so things don't look out of place. None of the spare rooms are used and they're all dusty. Mum and dad will want to put on a good show. They won't want you to come over and see things that you might tell your parents. It's why they're still together. They care too much about what people think. I'll get back to you with a date. Mum and dad said since they have met your mum and Sally-Anne's parents that I can go over. She isn't sure about me going to Colin's or Jerry's. They don't know about June either only because her parents are muggle and they might not be able to look after me properly... yes they actually believe that. There is a chance I can have Sally-Anne over since I already had her over, but I don't know about June. They're being really strange about her being muggleborn. I never thought they were prejudice about that before and they say they aren't since we're from muggleborns but why else would they be so weird about it? Anyway, I'll keep in touch with you and Jerry.

"June says she can come over anytime likely if she isn't baby-sitting and Colin said the same thing," Jerry said. "Colin said we could probably go to his place soon."

"Well I'll talk to mum about letting all of you come over soon," I said to Jerry. "It sounds like they can all come over here with some notice. I'll talk to mum about it and see what she says. I just can't wait until we're older. Ellen and her friends get to come and go, especially this year because they're of age."

"I'll just be happy to be in third year," Jerry said. "They get to go to Hogsmeade. Alana, Rory and Derek got more freedom even if they didn't realise it. So are you going to be snogging anymore girls this year? I notice things ended with Claudia after Christmas. What happened with that? You never really talked about it."

I shrugged. "We kept in contact sometimes but that's it. Maybe I'll talk to her again next year. Tracy does have a point that she doesn't have much substance. I can't see her being a girlfriend."

"I'm not talking about girlfriends, I am just talking about snogging," Jerry said. "I don't want to be tied down yet. Sometimes I think Sally-Anne has a crush on me and I hope not. She is pretty enough but I don't think I could date her."

"What about Tracy?" I asked with a smirk. "You two seem kind of close lately."

"Hell no," Jerry said quickly. "I'd snog her though."

I dropped my quill and stared at him. He would snog Tracy? He often talked about how she wasn't very pretty. I could understand why he wouldn't want to date her. She'd be a nightmare of a girlfriend. She could be a nightmare of a friend. So why would he want to snog her? Jerry smirked at me.

"I know that sounds odd because I don't think she is pretty. I never thought I'd want to snog someone I wasn't attracted to," he said.

"So why would you want to?" I asked. "I would snog June or Sally-Anne out of the girls we hang out with but not her."

Jerry snorted. "Well I'd snog them too, they're both so pretty, especially June. I'd snog all three of them. I can't explain it. There is something hot about Tracy even if I don't find her pretty. Trust me, I can't figure it out myself."

"I think it's because you two fight so much," I said. "I think I understand now. It's that tension between you two. Is that why you didn't care that she was on your lap?"

"Well you don't care when she hangs off you. She's a girl and she is annoying, but no I don't care if a girl is sitting on my lap," Jerry said. "You have to feel the same way. I bet if Tracy sat on you, you won't care. I like when they get close like that. That's the benefit of hanging out with three girls. Don't tell me you don't like it either."

"I do," I admitted. I liked it a lot, even when it was Tracy. At first it had been awkward but now I liked it when they all sat so close. "I was just surprised. Out of all of us, you have the most tension with Tracy. You don't even like her. You just hang out with her for us. I am fond of Tracy even with some of the things she's done."

"When she is normal I don't mind her," Jerry said. "I can't say if I like her yet or not."

"That just doesn't make sense to me," I said shaking my head with amusement. "If I couldn't stand a girl I don't think I'd want her around me. That Anita girl tried to hug me the last day of school and I ran away."

"That's different though," Jerry said. "She forced herself on you when you didn't want her to. I'll say a lot of things about Tracy, but she wouldn't do that. If I didn't want her near me, I'd tell her and she would back off. She wouldn't do what Anita did to you. Why do you care so much?"

"It's not that I care, I am just confused," I said. "I don't have that mindset."

It was something I'd have to ask one of the older boys later. Maybe they would understand it better.

"Maybe you will someday soon," Jerry said with a shrug. "But you didn't answer the question."

"What question?" I asked him.

"Sally-Anne. I think she has a crush on me," Jerry said. "What do you think?"

"You didn't actually ask," I said. "But no she doesn't have a crush on you. That actually came up a while ago between her and me. I thought she talked about that with you."

"No, she never said anything about a crush on me. She just said she didn't think I liked her," Jerry said.

"And that's why she always got upset when you were angry with her," I replied. "I asked her about it after we realized that we shouldn't be hexing those sixth year boys. She said she didn't have a crush on you, but she didn't think you liked her. She was worried that you viewed her the same way you viewed Tracy. I told her she should talk to you about it. Why did you think she had a crush on you?"

"Because she still gets upset when I get angry with her, and she gets jealous of Tracy and me," Jerry said. "She made a snide comment about Tracy sitting on me. She was joking. She was pissed off about it."

"Maybe she lied to me then," I replied. "But it seems odd because she told me she likes- nevermind."

"Who?" Jerry asked. "I'm not going to tell her you told."

"I'm bad with secrets around you," I said.

"I'm your best friend, at least I would think I am out of everyone," Jerry said. "You're mine before Colin or June. At times I don't even think June sees me as a good friend. I think she is closer to you and Sally-Anne and then it's Alana."

"You and June are mine, although Colin is close," I said. "He knows some stuff June doesn't only because she is a girl. There are just some things that girls don't need to know."

"Obviously Sally-Anne trusts you too though," Jerry said.

"Only because she was reassuring me that it wasn't you," I said. "Speaking of which, Tracy was going to tell me who she liked."

"Why do the girls all trust you?" Jerry asked. "Why are there even secrets like that in our group. Unless it's Colin or you, I don't see why it's a secret. I tell you lot when I am interested in someone. We're supposed to all be friends."

"It's Derek," I replied. "But don't tell her I told you. She does trust me after all."

"Oh... well yes I should have guessed that one," Jerry said with a shrug. "Maybe she likes both of us then."

"Is that possible?" I asked.

"Of course it is Timmy. Haven't you seen any cute girls beyond Claudia? There was a different girl a week for me at least."

"But I thought fancying someone was different than just finding them attractive," I said. "Look how long Ellen wanted Ben for. She was our age when she wanted him and she didn't get over it until she got with Keith. All the boys she dated she was just using them to get over Ben."

"I don't know," Jerry said with a shrug. "All I know is that I've seen many girls who I think are pretty. There isn't just one that I want."

"I don't think you've had a crush then," I said. "From what I know about it, you're just infatuated with one person."

"I think you can have more than one even if I haven't," Jerry said. "You're right. I probably haven't because if a girl is pretty, I want to snog her. But I think it's possible for someone to fancy more than one person. It is a relief to know that Sally-Anne does like Derek, but sometimes her attitude towards me makes me think she feels the same way. You, Colin and June all joked about Tracy but Sally-Anne seemed pissed. Maybe she doesn't know what she wants."

I smiled. "Well that could very well be true. I've heard that about girls."

I figured Keith was someone I could ask these questions to. He would know about it more. I couldn't ask Ellen because she was a girl, but I didn't really want to anyway. She was never nice to me anymore and maybe she'd laugh at my questions. I didn't think these were questions I could ask mum. This was a time when I wished I had dad around. He could answer my questions about girls, but unfortunately he cared about that new family more than me. I figured I could even ask Ben or Michael too if Ellen invited them over.

The next day after Jerry left, I saw Keith walk past my bedroom door. I hurried after him. He and Ellen had been in her room. I was surprised by this. Mum never used to let him go in her room if she wasn't home. I figured she must have been around though. Perhaps she'd come home early. Sure enough, when I hurried into the living-room, it was to hear her singing in the kitchen.

"Are you leaving?" I asked as I rushed over to Keith. He was just putting his shoes on.

"I have to work tonight," he answered. "What's up mate?"

"Do you have time to answer a few questions?" I asked.

"Sure," Keith answered. "I don't have to be at work for a few hours. I came to visit Ellen, but I wanted to hang out and relax before I went in. Let's go for a walk in the halls. I'm guessing it's about girls."

"Sort of," I answered.

So we went out in the hall, and I asked him about Jerry and Tracy. I wanted to know how someone could want to snog someone they weren't attracted to. I explained what Jerry had said when it came to her.

"Hormones," Keith said right away. "You're at that age. You're just starting puberty."

"So why does Jerry feel that way but I don't?" I asked him. "I wouldn't want to snog girl I don't like or I'm not attracted to."

"Well everyone is different but my guess is that Jerry is probably more hormonal than you. Twelve is about that age where it starts and it gets worse as you get older. You notice cute girls, but you probably haven't gone further than that. With Jerry, he wants every girl he sees so he is probably further along than you are."

"And is that bad then?" I asked. "I mean I am twelve. So I should think like that too right?"

"No. When I was twelve, I noticed cute girls too but I was nothing like some of the boys in my year. I don't know if Jared can really count since he was two years older, but I remember how some of the boys were. Ben was actually quite bad in the first year. He met Ashley's sister and he thought he was in love with her. Michael was like that with your sister."

"But they didn't hate those girls," I said.

"No they didn't hate those girls. Look, Jared actually shagged Melanie before they dated and he hated her. There are some blokes who will do anything with any girl whether they like them or not. I get the feeling Jerry is going to be like Jared was. He also doesn't hate Tracy even if he says he does. It's really hard to explain Timmy. Jerry would never date Tracy, and maybe he doesn't like much of her personality but there has to be some attraction there if he wants to snog her. What I am guessing is that there is sexual tension between them... well not exactly sexual. Neither are ready to shag but enough tension between them that they'd snog," Keith answered.

"It's still confusing for me," I told him.

"I know it is," Keith replied. "None of it makes sense even now for me when I am with your sister. I see the way Jared is, or was even before he got with Melanie. I remember having those confused feelings about girls at twelve as well. I never ever hated Ashley but I didn't find her pretty at all. I wanted to snog her though, and then after I heard that Jared had shagged her in our fourth year, I wondered what that would be like at all. Trust me mate, you're in for a long ride when it comes to all of this. I still get confused about your sister and we've been together for almost a year. Did Ben or Ellen ever tell you how he realized his feelings for Ashley?"

I shook my head. I knew the two of them had always been attracted to each other, but I didn't know when it had started. I did remember seeing Ben checking my sister out in bikini, but apparently he'd wanted Ashley too. So that's what was confusing about it.

"Ben used to protest about Ashley all the time. He wasn't attracted to her at all in our first year. He even flipped out when she thought he was taking her to a Valentine's party in our first year. He used to even talk behind her back, and then she basically threatened to end their friendship because she was tired of it. Their friendship ended up changing after that and they got closer. That was around the time when Ellen was moody over your parents fighting and Michael was moody about his home life. Ashley and Ben bonded because their friends were in bad moods and that made them closer. In the summer that year, Ashley sat on Ben's lap and that's when he realized that he'd wanted her all along. He'd never had a girl sit on him like that before, so it shocked him but then he realized he liked it, and he was happy that it was her," Keith said.

"And that was it?" I asked. "Ashley sat on him and he liked her?"

"Yes, it's was such simple and silly thing. Ben was just this hormonal twelve year old boy, and he had a girl sitting on him. I think it was always between them but they didn't realize it. It took Ashley longer," Keith said. "At your age it's just full of confusion and that's probably what it is for Jerry and Tracy."

"And you think they'll fall in love someday?" I asked.

Keith shrugged. "Who knows. It could be just a tension between them or maybe when they're seventeen they'll like each other. You can't really tell at your age Timmy. The girls you like now might not be the ones you like later on. Feelings can change. I think with Tracy and Jerry, or at least for Jerry is that he is confused about this feelings about Tracy and girls in general. He is just figuring out his feelings. Is that all you wanted to know? I don't know if I answered properly or not. It's not an easy question to answer because even now that happens. I think it can even happen for people in their twenties or older."

"I think I understand better," I said. "Can you fancy more than one girl at a time?"

I wasn't sure if I did understand though. It still seemed confusing to me, but maybe Keith was right. Maybe I wasn't at the same level as Jerry was yet. I still thought Claudia was very pretty even if I didn't want her as my girlfriend. I didn't anyone as a girlfriend. There were other girls I would snog though, but I wasn't sure if I'd want to snog Tracy. Even if I did think she was pretty I didn't know if I wanted to.

"Yes," Keith said. "Infatuation with someone is different than loving someone. You may think you love someone but you don't. If you can have feelings for someone else then you aren't in love. You'll probably run into that a lot. Look at what happened with Ellen. She was never in love with Ben. She was just in love with the idea of him, but she was able to fall in love with me and she forgot about him. Is there more than one girl you think you want?"

"No," I answered. "There isn't any girl I have strong feelings about. There is that girl Claudia and I liked snogging her but that's it. I would never want to date her. I saw her kissing other blokes and it didn't bother me so she obviously didn't like me either. I do think Tracy was right that she is just a pretty face with no substance."

"You'll meet plenty of girls like that," Keith said. "I get the feeling you'll have quite a few girlfriends. What I can tell you though is the best thing you can do is be with someone who feels like your best friend. Someone you can talk to about anything. It's like that with Ellen and me. A lot of people make that mistake but blokes are the worse with that. Michael is like that with Ellen. Why do you ask then?"

"It's something Jerry and I talked about," I answered. "He thinks you can but I didn't think you could. I thought you could have feelings for only one person."

"Not if it's just fancying someone," Keith said. "Some people are like that. Some people only like one person, but there are others who have more than one. Michael is a good example of that. He is still in love with Anne and Ellen. It happens. I've never had that but Dan did and Hank and Stan did. Erica and Jess were like that. I think you'll be one of those blokes who only fancy one girl at a time, but I think your friend Jerry will be one who goes for multiple ones. Same with that Tracy girl. It's hard to say for the others because I don't know them too well. Anything else mate? I really should get going soon."

"No I think that's everything for now. Will I be able to ask you more questions if I have them though? There are some things I can't ask mum or Ellen," I said.

"Anytime mate. You have my parchment number too. If I can't, I'm sure Ben or Michael will too," Keith told me. "I'm just going to apparate now. There aren't any muggles around. I'll probably see you tomorrow unless you're at a friends."

I nodded and said good-bye to him. He turned on the spot and disappeared with a loud crack. We were on a top floor, so I had to make my way down to our floor. I was still confused about Jerry wanting to snog Tracy, but I supposed Keith could have been right about hormones and confusion. He said it even happened with older people too. I wondered if that would ever happen with me. I supposed growing up was going to be more confusing than I'd thought.

My friends and I were able to get together a lot more after that. After their parents thought they had been home long enough, they let us have sleep overs. I was able to invite all five of them over one day after we went to the Hoofer's place. They had a celebration there for Ashley because she'd been made Head Girl. In my opinion, I didn't think anyone else in her year deserved it more. I was relieved when Ellen asked if she could stay at Ashley's for the rest of the week instead of coming home with us. I couldn't take her attitude much longer.

As we were leaving, mum told me that I could invite all my friends over. I was disappointed to go because everyone else was staying to swim longer. Ben's pool was a good size and I liked it better than our building pool since I knew everyone there, or most of them. I wanted to be able to go over more to swim and I hoped that Ben would let me, even if Ellen didn't want me there.

"I can't think of anyone else who could make a better Head Girl," mum told me once we got home. "At one time I'd hoped maybe Ellen would be, but I lost hope years ago. I am just surprised Ben turned it down."

"Me too," I said. "I'd like to be Head Boy. I hope I am prefect at least. Ashley's mum isn't angry with me anymore either. I apologized to her for the fireworks and she said I could go over again."

"I know," mum said smiling at me and she patted my head. "I was right there. I am glad you apologized Timmy. She forgave you a long time ago. She told me that boys will be boys. Now why don't you go write your friends? I am sure they are still up. They can stay all weekend. I know you've all been wanting to get together. I've talked to all their parents too, and they're fine with it."

"Ellen doesn't want Tracy sleeping in her room," I told her. "Where are the girls going to sleep?"

"I think they'll be fine in your room or even out here. They can just bring sleeping bags or someone can sleep on the couch. I'll lock Ellen's door. I know she won't want them in there. I've had enough of her attitude lately, I don't feel like dealing with that," mum said. "I think I have some extra mattresses in storage, I'll check tomorrow. It might be a good idea to get a few foam mattresses for you anyway. With Ellen it was only ever Ashley who slept over, and they always just shared her bed. With you, there are more people. Someday Ellen will move out and we can turn her room into a spare room anyway."

I was surprised mum didn't care now about the girls sleeping in my room anymore. She had been adament about that not happening before. I wondered why she'd decided to lighten up on that one. I decided not to worry about it though. I hurried to my room to change from my bathing suit into pajamas, and then I wrote to all my friends. Part of me hoped that Tracy wouldn't be able to. At times her parents were strict about that. However, all five of them would be allowed to come over for the weekend.

I set to making some space in my room. If all of them were sleeping there, I'd have to move some of my stuff around. I decided to move my old toy box into my closet. I wasn't ready to let go a lot of my old toys yet. We'd thrown some more of them off the balcony when Colin and Jerry came over, but there were quite a bit I wanted to keep. We'd mainly thrown my old baby toys away. Other ones I thought I could keep for my future kids. After I moved my toy box, I decided to move my shelves to one side of the room and my dressers to the other.

Mum must have heard me because she came into help me. With a quick wave of her wand, she had everything all arranged.

"I can't believe you're growing up," mum sighed as she looked around my room. "It's hard to walk in here and see all of your toys gone. You put your kid books away too."

"I'm going to keep them. They're all in the closet. Now there is more room though. Everyone should be able to fit in here. They're all coming over for the weekend."

"I still can't believe your starting second year and Ellen and Ashley are starting seventh year. She deserves that badge but I still remember the first day I met her. She was almost as shy as June. She was such a sweet girl back then. I was pleased with Ellen's choice when it came to her, and she was always good with you. I realized how much you've all grown up when Ben, Ashley and Keith started to apparate over here. Soon your friends will be doing that too."

"Not soon enough," I said. "It's still a long time for us."

"It will go by quickly," mum answered. "I really am proud of you Timmy. You did so well for your first year and I have no doubt at all that you'll make prefect and Head Boy."

"I want to make up for Ellen," I told her. "I'll do what I can to make up for everything she used to do and dad too."

"It's not your responsibility to do that Timmy. You should be doing it for yourself," mum said.

"I am but I am also doing it for all that too," I said.

Mum smiled at me and then hugged me.

"You're a sweet boy. Get ready for bed Timmy. We'll finish getting ready for your friends tomorrow," mum said.

I was excited to see the girls, so I did get into bed quickly. I was never someone who had problems sleeping. The only time that had happened was when I was younger and I had to witness mum and dad's fighting. Otherwise I always fell asleep right away, even if I was excited or stressed. That night wasn't any different. I closed my eyes and in moments I was asleep. The next thing I knew, mum was waking me up.

"Your friends will be arriving after lunch," she told me. "Their parents all wrote to me. The girls are staying until Monday, but Colin and Jerry's parents both told me the boys can stay for most of the week."

"Brilliant!" I said excitedly. "Why?"

"Colin's family aren't going to be around. His brother is going to their grandparents and his parents both need to make a trip. They were just going to send him with his brother, but they asked if we could keep him instead. I guess Colin and Howard are fighting as much as you and your sister have been. So I told them he could stay as long as he needed to. I wrote to Jerry's parents about the situation, and they said it was fine for Jerry to stay as well. I figured you'd want them both here. I did try with the girls, but June needs to baby-sit and neither Sally-Anne's or Tracy's parents want them gone for long. You'll all be allowed to go over to Tracy's very soon though. Her mum said that she wants all five of you over, so she said maybe next weekend or the weekend after that."

When everyone did arrive, it looked to me that Tracy had grown even more. However, I must have grown at least a little because I thought I was slightly taller than June now. Sally-Anne looked more or less the same. It was hard to say with Colin or Jerry. It was hard to believe because not that much time had past since I'd seen them. Perhaps they had grown before we'd left school but I noticed the difference in the two weeks or so since we'd last seen each other.

June must have noticed this too because she looked me up and down.

"Did you get in the way of a stretching charm jinx at the beginning of the year Timmy?" She asked. "I used to be taller than you."

I shrugged feeling very pleased.

"I'm still taller," Tracy said and she flopped down on the couch. "But my mum and dad are tall and so are my siblings. I'll probably be about five foot seven. That's how tall my sister is anyway."

"I'll probably be done growing soon," Sally-Anne said. "No is particularly tall in my family but we're not too short either. Mum isn't much taller than me. I'll probably grow another inch or two."

"Did you eat before you came over?" Mum asked as she came out of the kitchen. She'd been busy preparing us some snacks for later.

"We stopped for lunch on the way here," June said. "My mum picked up Sally-Anne and Tracy. We don't actually live too far from each other."

"We ate too," Colin said nodding at Jerry. "We took the Knight Bus here and we stopped for by that pizza place across the road. We saw the girls come, so we came over."

"Well I have snacks for when you are ready," mum said and then she looked at Tracy, Sally-Anne and June. "Now I went and grabbed some foam mattresses this morning. Some were in storage and some I had to buy. Ellen isn't home, so you won't be sleeping in her room. You three can either sleep out here, or you can sleep in Timmy's room."

"I don't care where I sleep," June said.

"We'll sleep in Timmy's room," Tracy said. "That way if you want to stay up you don't have to worry about being quiet."

Mum looked at her with surprise, and I was sure she wondered why she was being so polite.

"Well I have a telly in m room," she told her. "Is that where all three of you want to sleep? I want to make sure it's okay with all three of you."

"We're fine with sleeping in there," Sally-Anne said. "We won't complain about that."

June nodded in agreement.

"Well why don't all of you set up in Timmy's room then?" Mum asked. "You can go swimming if you'd like," and then she looked at Jerry, Colin and me. "No throwing things off the balcony. I mean it. I know you've been doing it still. I shouldn't have to tell you more than once not to do it."

"We won't do it," I said and then I started to head down to my room.

"You throw things off the balcony?" Sally-Anne asked the moment we were in my room. I shut the door behind us. "Why would you do that?"

"We just try to scare the people below us," Jerry said with a shrug. "We stopped trying to hit them."

"That's stupid," June said and she sat on my bed. "I baby-sit a couple of seven year olds and that's something they'd do. You're all twelve."

"What if you do hit someone?" Sally-Anne asked. "You could hurt them."

"Hold the lecture," Jerry said as he took a seat. "We get enough of it from Timmy's mother. You're not our mothers."

"Well don't complain when she won't let you come over anymore," Sally-Anne said.

"You do sound like a mother," Tracy said as she sat beside June. "It's stupid but who cares. What has everyone been up to this summer? I've been so bored. Mum and dad wanted me around to spend time with me but then they weren't around. My sister said she'd come over but she hasn't yet. She said she'd take me out for lunch soon. Thankfully mum and dad said you lot can come over soon though."

"We really do need to try and get together more," I said. "I've been bored too. I haven't done much except hang out with these two a couple of times and just fight with Ellen. I've already done my homework. I hate being twelve. I feel like we're grown up but apparently we're not grown up enough because we can't do anything on our own."

"I thought mum and dad would let me do more this year," Tracy agreed. "I mean, I am going be thirteen in September. She almost wanted me to have a sitter, but I know how to use their situation to my advantage. I threw the biggest temper tantrum ever."

"And yet you want them to treat you like a grown up," Jerry said as he rolled his eyes.

"Yes well sometimes you have to take drastic measures. They try to buy my love or try to make me happy, sometimes I have to do that. It's not like I want to, but it's ridiculous that they want me to have a sitter still," Tracy said. "Besides Jerry, you can't really talk either. You were throwing things off the balcony. That's something a six year old would do."

"Don't lecture me and throwing a temper tantrum is something a three year old would do!"

"You're both immature," Sally-Anne said. "Throwing temper tantrums to get your own way and throwing things off the balcony. No wonder your parents don't treat you like a grown up!"

"And I am sure you're any better," Jerry said.

Why were they fighting? I looked to June and Colin. Both were wide-eyed as they stared at Sally-Anne, Jerry and Tracy. We hadn't seen each other in a while. I didn't want them fighting. I didn't want my sleep-over to be tense. Was the same thing going to happen to us that had happened to Ellen's group. She'd told me they'd had their big fight. I didn't think there was tension with our group, but what if there was?

"Why are you all fighting?" June spoke up. "We should all be happy because we haven't seen each other. I don't want us to fight. Why are you acting like you're angry with each other?"

"I'm just stating the truth," Tracy said. "I wasn't trying to start a fight. If someone is going to throw something in my face, I'll do it back to them. I was trying to keep things light but it seems as if Jerry is angry about something."

"Because I hate when people who are my age lecture me about something," Jerry said. "It's not up to you lot to lecture me. You're not the boss of me and you never will be."

"I never said anything until you threw it in my face Jerry," Tracy said. "And yet you want to take it out on me. You're the one lecturing me about throwing a temper tantrum. I only used it as a last resort. Why not take advantage of a difficult situation? I'm sure any one of you would."

"I'm sorry," June said quickly. "I wasn't trying to lecture you Jerry. I was just saying it's stupid. You're right though, I'm not the boss of you. I don't want us to fight."

Tracy folded her arms angrily and stared at the floor. She had a point and I wondered what Jerry's problem was. For once, she wasn't the one who was the problem and yet he took it out on her. I sighed trying to think of a way to ease the tension. Then I thought about drinks. Mum had bought a lot of butterbeers for us.

"Jerry, let's go get some butterbeers," I said.

Jerry shrugged and got up from the chair.

"We'll be back," I said to the others. "Just make yourselves comfortable. Pick a mattress and maybe later we will go down to the pool. Maybe mum will let us go somewhere else too. Ellen used to be allowed to and I'm allowed to. We don't have to stay cooped up in my room."

I wait until we were in the kitchen. Mum was now sitting on the couch and peeling some potatoes while she watched some soap opera. She was really going all out for us. She was making some big potato casserole for us. I'd tried it before and it was quite good. I was sure my friends would like it too.

"Why are you so moody?" I asked Jerry. "Tracy is right. For once she isn't the problem."

"It was Sally-Anne," Jerry said. "I've been looking forward to this since last night. Ever since we all met up downstairs. It's irritating me. She's never had this kind of attitude before. She's been like this ever since Tracy sat on me."

"It's not Tracy you should be taking it out on," I said. "I know you don't like her, but this time isn't her fault. I'm sorry if it seems as if I am lecturing you, but this time you and Sally-Anne are the problem."

"Yes I know but Sally-Anne will get overly sensitive if I get angry with her," Jerry replied. "I'll apologize to Tracy when we go back."

"Remember when you told me that we can't always coddle to June's shyness?" I asked him.

While we were protective of her, Jerry had said this me last November. We'd all realized that we weren't helping June by hovering over her and we'd all talked about it. I'd been the worst offender for it and Jerry had told me straight up to stop. The moment we stopped doing this, there was improvement with June and it was quick improvement. The same had to be for Sally-Anne as well. It was the same with Tracy too. We all knew we had to call her out when she was being a bitch, but for once she wasn't being one.

"Yes I remember. I just don't feel like having her worrying that I don't like her as a friend or something," Jerry replied. "And I am paranoid she fancies me."

"You need to figure that out," I said. "I don't want tension in our group and I don't want us fighting. It happened with Ellen's friends. They ended up fighting because Michael liked Ellen but she ignored it. They all had things they weren't happy with and it all built up. Ellen warned me about that and she said that if we have problems we should speak up. You're the one who said we're friends and so there should be secrets."

"I'll talk to her but it's going to be awkward. I'll wait until later to ask her. Later if we need butterbeers I'll get her to help me, or you tell Sally-Anne and me to get them," Jerry said and then he grinned at me. "By the way I figured you wanted to talk to me. I knew why you chose me out of everyone. It was obvious."

"I figured as much," I said. "I just don't want us all fighting. I have enough of that with Ellen. I don't need it with you lot too, especially with our first sleep-over of the summer."

"I get it mate," Jerry said and he clapped me on the back before he grabbed three of the butterbeers I'd set on the counter.

I grabbed the remaining three and followed him as he left the kitchen. Mum didn't look up as we went through. She just continued to peel the potatoes. When we entered my room, it was to find Colin going through some of my board games. Mum had grabbed some of the more age appropriate aged ones from Ellen's room. Mine were all too young but Ellen had ones that were for kids my age and older.

Tracy and June were now laying on their stomachs on my bed and discussing a sleep-over they'd had at her place recently. Tracy seemed as if she couldn't help but send a jab at June. She made a comment about June needing a light on or something. June just rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. Sally-Anne had taken Jerry's seat at the desk. She was writing on her message parchment. I handed them their butterbeers and then sat down on the edge of my bed.

"What is this?" Colin asked as he held up a game of Monopoly. "How do you play this?"

"We can play that later," I said. "It can take hours when Ellen and I play. There are six of us. We can have some drinks and then maybe go swimming. It's too nice out to stay inside. I wish we could go to Ben's. His pool is brilliant! I was there last night."

"Why did you get to go to Ben's?" June asked as Jerry and handed out his butterbeers.

"Oh right," I said. "I didn't tell you lot. Ashley was made Head Girl so Ben's parents decided to invite us all over to celebrate. Michael passed his apparition test too, so we were celebrating that. They invited mum and me over as well as Ashley's parents."

"She made Head Girl!?" June asked excitedly. "That's amazing. Oh and deserves it too. I am so glad that she was made one. I can't wait to see her so I can congratulate her. I wonder if Alana knows yet."

"I'm surprised you haven't had a meeting of the sister club yet this summer," Tracy said. "Are you sure she can actually do it though? She'll have to interact with people. I never imagined Ashley as a leader."

"She can do it," Sally-Anne said. "She's the only one out of any of them that takes the time to look out for us younger ones."

"I still find that weird," Tracy said.

"Unless you want to be invited to Hufflepuff corner," Colin said. "Then it isn't so weird. Come off it Tracy, you love it when the older kids take notice of us. I should tell Howard. He has always liked her."

"Everyone does," Tracy said and she took a sip of butterbeer. "And I bet when we start seventh year it's going to be Timmy and June. It's always the brown nosers. I'd never want to be a prefect or Head Girl."

"You'd never make Head Girl or prefect anyway," Jerry said. "Anyway Tracy, I am sorry I got angry with you earlier. You're right. I started it with you."

"That's perfectly okay," Tracy said with a shrug. "But I really wish you lot would stop getting angry with me when it's someone elses fault. It's always me that people get angry with and I get tired of it. You should only get angry with me if I deserve it."

"Yes I know," Jerry said. "I guess I am just used to it being you that pisses me off," he added the last bit with a grin and he winked at her.

"Guess I have a bad reputation then," Tracy said with a smile back at him.

I glanced at Sally-Anne to see her glaring at the two of them. She must have fancied him even if she said she fancied Derek. She was definitely not herself. I'd never seen her pull this kind of attitude before. It put me in mind of how Ellen could be at times.

"The girls can change into their bathing suits first," I said as I sat down on the edge of my bed. "We might as well swim first."

"I don't want to go swimming!" Sally-Anne snapped. "I'll just stay up here."

"What was the point in coming if you're going to be like that?" Jerry asked her.

"I didn't know that I had to come here to swim," Sally-Anne said.

"We don't have to swim I guess," I said.

"But I do want to swim," Tracy said. "We have a pool at my place, but it's been down this summer. Mum and dad didn't set it up. It's not very big but it's enough to relax in. I've been waiting to go to Ben's so swim. I want to go swimming."

"Me too," June said. "Why don't you want to swim Sally-Anne?"

"Because I don't!" She said. "Don't let it stop the rest of you. Just go. I brought some homework. I can do it up here while you swim."

"You can watch us too," Colin said. "What's wrong Sally-Anne?"

"NOTHING!" She shouted.

We all stared at her. What was wrong with her?

"I'll be right back," I finally said. "I'll just let mum know you want to stay up here. You don't have to go down but you don't get so angry with us. We're your friends you don't need to be like this."

"And yet it's okay when Tracy does it," Sally-Anne snapped.

I sighed. What was with my friends? I got up from the edge of the bed and left the room. Mum was no longer peeling the potatoes. She was in the kitchen and rinsing off each potato.

"Is everything okay?" She asked when I entered the kitchen. "I heard shouting."

"Sally-Anne is being weird today," I said. "I just came to let you know that she is staying up here. She is getting all angry about us swimming for some reason. She's never been like this before and she seems to get jealous of Jerry and Tracy."

"Oh just leave her be Timmy," mum said. "Tell her she can help me make dinner. The rest of you go down and swim. I'll keep her busy."

"You don't mind?" I asked. "I hope she isn't moody with you."

"Oh I don't think she will be," mum said. "Don't you worry. Go on and get ready to swim."

I nodded and headed back to my room. Everyone was still asking her what was wrong and she looked close to tears. What was wrong with my friend?

"Mum said you can help her with dinner if you want," I told her. "She said it's fine if you stay up here, but I don't know why you're so upset. I thought you liked swimming."

"I just don't want to right now," she responded. "I'll help your mum make dinner."

"You'd rather do that then swim?" I asked her.

"Why?" Colin asked. "I don't get it."

"Oh just leave her be," Tracy said. "If she doesn't want to swim then she doesn't want to."

"Well I just don't get it," Jerry said.

"Of course you wouldn't," Tracy said. "I didn't at first but I just figured it out. So just leave her alone."

June suddenly let out a gasp and then she glanced at Sally-Anne and then she looked at Tracy. Tracy gave a small nod.

"Okay what is going on?" Colin asked.

"Don't worry about it," June said. "I'll change first and then Tracy. I can't wait to swim so let's hurry!"

Colin, Jerry and me looked at each other. Girls were so strange sometimes and it seemed even mum understood why Sally-Anne didn't want to swim. So it must have been a girl thing. As I thought about that, I remembered that this happened with Ellen sometimes. She went through her monthly thing and she'd get grumpy and she couldn't go swimming. Was that happening with Sally-Anne? The thought of that made me uncomfortable even if it made sense. I decided just to leave it for now.

"I'm just going to go help your mum then," Sally-Anne said and she got up from the chair and left my room.

"What is all that about?" Jerry asked Tracy the moment she was gone.

"That isn't something I am going to reveal," Tracy replied. "I can be mean, but I'm not that mean."

"But how would you be mean?" Jerry asked her.

"What is going on?" Colin asked.

"Just let it go," I said.

"Do you know too?" Jerry asked. "What is the big mystery?"

"You two are persistent," Tracy said with a sigh. "It's up to Sally-Anne to tell you. I doubt she'll want to though. Just let it go already. She's a big girl. She can take care of herself. Expect this to happen frequently."

June returned moments later and then Tracy jumped up, grabbed one of her bags and then left the room. June sat down on the bed and smiled at us.

"Tracy won't tell us, and Timmy seems as if he knows so what is going on June?" Colin asked.

"I don't get why we're keeping secrets from each other," Jerry added.

"Would you just let it go?" June asked.

"The point to this sleep-over is for us all to get together," Jerry said. "So if something is bothering her, we'd like to know. I don't see why four of you know but Colin and me are left out. I thought we talked about this on the train."

"Because it's not a secret exactly," June said.

"Well we're going to keep asking her," Colin said. "It's not right that we don't know but you three do."

"Well good luck with that," June said with a giggle. "All I am saying is it's nothing personal against the two of you. We all guessed. You can probably guess too if you think about it. That's all I'll say about it. Let's just stop talking about it."

After we were all dressed in our bathing suits, we headed down to the pool. Thankfully it wasn't too crowded. At times it could really depend. Sometimes it was very full of the old ladies and I didn't like swimming then. I didn't like it when the really small kids were around either. Thankfully it was just a few teenagers when we went down. Tracy stopped in her tracks when she noticed one of the boys.

"They're too old for you," I told her as she stared at them. "They're like fifteen or something."

"I'll be thirteen soon," she said and then she turned to June. "Do you want to sunbathe or are you going to swimming."

"Swimming," June answered.

"Oh come on, there are two boys and they are cute," Tracy said. "Come sunbathe with me. Maybe we can hang out with them."

"They're too old," June said as she made a face as them.

"Ugh, you are so boring! Sally-Anne doesn't care about age. Fine, I'll just take them for myself!" Tracy said. "This is why I don't like hanging out with you."

"I am twelve and they are fifteen," June said.

"There is nothing wrong with just talking to them. That's fine though. The more the better," Tracy said and she headed over to one of the lawn chairs.

"They won't want you," Jerry called after her. "You're not pretty enough!"

Tracy turned and stuck her tongue out at him. She then put her bag down and pulled off her dress. June was busy kicking off her flip flops. She wasn't paying attention to her anymore, but Colin, Jerry and me stopped in our tracks when she did this. We'd only ever seen the girls in robes or just casual clothes. I'd seen other girls in bikini's before, and the summer before I had even looked at them quite a bit, but it was different when it was a girl I knew and hung out with. I couldn't help but notice that Tracy had a nice body. Jerry dropped his bag as he stared at her.

"They might notice her after all," June said with a smirk. "Stop drooling Jerry."

"What?" Jerry asked looking away from her. "She doesn't look good. Well, let's go swimming."

June rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"It's your turn now," I said to her. "Are you hiding a bikini under your dress?"

"Nope a one piece," she said. "Just go swimming. Don't look at me."

I took off my clothes but I couldn't help but be curious about her too. If Tracy looked good then surely June would too. She was a very pretty girl. Jerry and Colin also got undressed and then they climbed in the pool. I jumped in moments later. I glanced at June who almost seemed self-conscious now. She walked over to where Tracy was sitting with sun glasses on. I couldn't help but watch as she took her dress off to reveal a black one piece. It might not have been as revealing as Tracy's suit but I thought it was still quite nice.

"And this is why it's good that we hang out with girls," Jerry said with a sigh. "I never realized they had all that under those robes."

"I never really thought of them as girls," Colin said. "I mean, I know they are but I never thought of them as the ones I've seen in magazines or at the beach. Too bad Sally-Anne didn't come down too. She probably looks good as well."

"Ooh does Colin fancy Sally-Anne?" Jerry asked laughing.

"Not really but I notice she is pretty," Colin said. "I told you who I fancy."

"And who is that?" I asked feeling left out by this. Now I understood how the others felt when I knew things and they didn't.

"Phoebe," Colin said. "I love how she wears pig-tails. Normally girls seem too old at our age but they look good on her."

"She is pretty," I said thinking about a pretty Ravenclaw girl with dark hair. She normally wore her hair in two braids or pig-tails. She had a cute smile and very pretty blue eyes. I could understand what Colin meant. I wondered what she would look like in a bathing suit.

"And Timmy probably wishes he could see Claudia in a bikini," Jerry said with a smirk.

"I haven't thought about her in a while," I said. "But I'm sure she looks nice. What about you Jerry? You tease us about girls."

"I'll take them all," Jerry said with a grin. "I'll take that Anita girl as well, even if she is a bad snogger."

"You'll take Tracy?" Colin asked.

"You wouldn't?" Jerry asked as he gazed over at her again. June had now joined her on one of the lawn chairs. I thought she'd wanted to swim?

"She's a bitch," Colin said making a face. "And she's ugly. I thought you didn't like her."

Jerry just shrugged. "I would snog her though, and she isn't that ugly."

"You don't fancy her do you?" Colin asked making a face.

"Nope, but she is a girl," Jerry said with a shrug. "And it's not as if she is gross. She isn't exactly pretty but she's not that ugly either. I'll snog any girl that wants to snog me."

"What about Betsy? You don't seem to be picky if you'd snog Tracy." I asked thinking about one of the second year Hufflepuff girls.

I moved to the edge of the pool facing away from Tracy and June.

None of us thought she showered or something, even her own friends. She was smelly and her hair looked gross and unbrushed. She could be pretty, but she didn't take care of herself. Even her robes didn't look right. Jerry instantly made a face.

"No," Jerry said quickly. "I bet she hasn't showered since last September. She's disgusting. You know, I'll say a lot about Tracy, but she is not gross at all. You could say the same about Ashley. She isn't pretty at all but blokes like her too. You can't compare her to Betsy or that Slytherin girl Samnang. There is a difference between not being that pretty and just being gross."

"True," Colin said laughing. "We're only teasing Jerry. You can't say that out of all the girls though there isn't one you'd want."

"There is Emily," Jerry said. "She's in that second, well no I guess that third year now who hangs out with Anita. You know, that one with the long ginger hair. I like girls with ginger hair. Even since I noticed how pretty Ginny Weasley is years ago. I've been noticing girls with red hair ever since. Probably won't want a twelve-year-old though."

"You won't know unless you try."

We looked around to see that June had joined us now. Tracy was still in the lawn chair, but at some point since we'd looked away from the girls, June had decided to join us. We'd been so much into our conversation, we hadn't noticed. She was now grinning at us.

"Decided to join us?" Jerry asked her as he splashed her.

"Tracy changed her mind about me sitting with her," June said. "She is worried the boys won't notice her with me there. She told me to join you lot, so I did. They're not even looking at her. Some new girls have come out that are closer to their age. They aren't going to notice a twelve-year-old when they have pretty fifteen-year-olds around them," and she nodded in the direction of the boys.

She was right, a few girls who hadn't been there had joined them. All three of them were very pretty and they looked even better in bathing suits then June or Tracy did. I believed it had to do with them being older teens. I'd noticed that with some of the older teens. Their bodies looked better. Someday Tracy, June and Sally-Anne would probably look that good too. The girl who had been with the two boys before looked annoyed by the newcomers and I wondered if she was jealous or something.

"Wow," Jerry sighed.

"So are we going to swim and play or are we just going to check out girls all day?" June asked. "I swear I am the only one who doesn't go crazy around cute people. Tracy and Sally-Anne go mad when they cute boys and you three do when you see pretty girls."

"Hard not to notice," Colin said. "But you're right. Let's swim."

We spent most of the day down in the pool, and I couldn't help but keeping thinking back to Sally-Anne. Was she still with my mum or was she doing homework? Even if she didn't want to swim, she could have still hung out with us by the pool. After a while, I started to get hungry and I did worry about her too so I suggested we go back up. Tracy had remained outside of the pool most of the time.

In fact, when we got out, I thought she looked asleep and she looked very red.

"I dare one of you to slap her sunburn," Colin said as we walked over to her.

Jerry snorted. "I don't have a death wish. You do it."

"No you do it," Colin said.

"Just throw water on her," I said. "That will wake her."

"Or just shake her awake," June said and she rolled her eyes before she leaned forward to shake Tracy.

Tracy sat up and pulled off her sunglasses. She looked around looking dazed.

"Where are the boys?" She asked. "You didn't scare them off did you?"

"They left with those girls a long time ago," June told her. "I told you. They're not going to notice you when they have girls their own age around."

"It's common knowledge that a lot of blokes like younger girls," Tracy said and she stood up and stretched.

"When they're older," June said. "No fifteen year old wants a twelve year old."

"I'll be thirteen soon," Tracy said and then she made a face. "Oooh I feel like I am on fire. Oh I got a really bad burn. Why did you let me burn so much?"

"You're the one who didn't put on sun screen," June said. "I told you to. You said you never burn."

"Only cause you let me fall asleep!" Tracy retorted.

"Yes it's June's fault," Jerry said and he rolled his eyes.

Tracy let out a groan as she pulled on her dress. The rest of us dressed as well and then we headed inside. All the way up she complained about it. Thankfully mum had some stuff she could put on sunburns that would soothe it right away. I really didn't want to listen to her bitch all night, so I reassured her mum would give her some.

When we went back upstairs, Sally-Anne seemed to be in a much better mood. Mum served us dinner and then took care of Tracy's sunburn. Upstairs it looked even worse than it had outside. She was very red and she also had a funny looking burn on her face because of her sunglasses. She ended up getting angry with us for laughing at her.

"Should have wore sunscreen," Sally-Anne said. "You told me you have fair skin."

"And yet she told me that she doesn't burn," June said. "She was trying to impress those boys. They were too old. They were probably like fifteen or sixteen."

"They weren't too old for me!" Tracy snapped. "I am going to be thirteen soon."

"It's still too old dear," mum told her as she rubbed some of the potion into Tracy's skin.

"What do you know about it?" Tracy asked her.

"I know that at your age you shouldn't go more a year or two," mum told her.

"Fifteen is only two years older than thirteen," Tracy said. "How long does this stuff take to work anyway? I don't think we have this stuff at home."

"It's my own potion," mum said. "There are other ones but I perfected this one in my seventh year. We had to make our own and this works really well. I always make sure I keep it around for the kids. Timmy and Ellen can burn easily well too. I'll make more for you tonight to take home. You'll have to put it on everyday for three days for it to go away. Thankfully with this stuff you won't peel."

"I never knew that," I said looked up from my plate. "Why didn't you ever tell me that? You should sell it."

"I do sell it," mum said. "I sell a lot of my potions."

"You never said you were good in potions," I said.

"It's why I test potions at work," mum told me.

"But you could do so much more. Ashley sometimes thinks she might do Experimental Charms if she doesn't end up being a teacher or she might do it when she is tired of teaching. Isn't here an Experimental Potions department or something?"

"There is something similar to that," mum answered. "And yes, I would eventually like to get in there. In fact, my department is the one who tests those potions. Eventually I could move up to the point of working on my own. It takes year Timmy. When I first started, I only cleaned vials and cauldrons. So I have moved up through the department. Nobody fresh out of Hogwarts starts at the top. I am sure Ashley will have to start at the bottom as well with Experimental Charms if she goes into it. It's like that for any job you want."

"This stuff feels good already," Tracy said. "Anything mum or dad puts on my skin it still burns a bit. My skin already feels cool."

"That's the mint in it," mum said. "You'll notice tomorrow that it will be better already."

"Thank you," Tracy said sounding sincere for once. "I feel better already. I wasn't looking forward to sleeping on that foam mattress with my skin on fire."

"Well if you have to, I'll take a foam mattress and you can take my bed," I told her.

After we finished eating, we all went back into my room. Colin was really curious about the Monopoly game, so I decided to pull it out. The girls seemed more curious about Twister, but I told them we could try that one later. It was getting later and mum didn't like us to make too much noise. We had people who lived below us and sometimes they complained about the noise I made. I figured Twister would be a good game for the next day. It was a fun one. Ellen and Ashley used to play it and they would let me as well.

"I've played monopoly," June said. "I didn't think it was wizard game."

"It isn't," I said. "Mum gets us both wizard and muggle ones. It would be neat if someone charmed this game. Maybe I can get Ashley to do that. Muggles have chess too but the pieces don't move. Most muggle games would be more fun that way."

"We should get a poker set," Jerry said. "And then we could play poker and get better at it. I want to beat Michael and some of the other older kids. I want to beat him the most though. He gets cocky when he wins."

"And he gets annoying when we want to play," Colin said. "Apparently he started in his second year but he doesn't want first of second years playing."

"That's what Alana said and she ended up being him in her first year," June said. "Monopoly is fun, but it does take hours. I want to be the dog piece."

"So Sally-Anne," Colin said as June and me started to set the board up. "Are you going to tell us what was going on? Tracy, June and Timmy seem to know but they won't tell us."

Sally-Anne folded her arms and let out an impatient sigh.

"Are you insecure about wearing a bathing suit?" Jerry asked her.

"What makes you ask that?" Sally-Anne asked him.

"I dunno, it's just I remember my sister reacting that way," he answered with a shrug. "Sometimes she doesn't want to swim if my parents take us to the beach and she says it cause she is feeling insecure about wearing a bathing suit."

June and Tracy suddenly giggled and Sally-Anne shot them a look.

"There is nothing to be insecure about," Colin said. "We've seen girls in bikini's of bathing suits."

"Oh for the love of- I am on my period!" Sally-Anne said. "I can't go swimming because I am having my first period!"

Jerry and Colin stared at her open-mouthed while Tracy and June started to laugh even harder. I tried not to pay attention as I continued to set everything up. I didn't know if I should laugh or feel embarrassed. I'd grown up hearing Ellen talking about it with mum or Ashley but I'd tuned those conversations out. I didn't want to hear about it and I only knew a little about the topic. It was something that had always made me feel uncomfortable. It was a little funny seeing the looks that Colin and Jerry were giving Sally-Anne. They looked almost scared.

"Jerry, you have an older sister!" Tracy said still laughing hard.. "She's had it by now. Didn't she ever tell you about it? What about your mum?"

"No," Jerry answered blushing furiously. "I mean, I know that happens to girls but it's not something I've ever known or given much thought to. My sister has never talked about it with me. I didn't ever think it was something I'd ever have to worry about cause you know, I am a boy so I don't have to think about."

"Unless you get a girlfriend," June said. "That's what your sister means when she tells you she is insecure. It's easier to tell you that instead of telling you that she's on her period."

"Do we have to talk about this?" Colin asked.

"You're the ones who kept asking," Sally-Anne said. "I talked to Timmy's mum about it while you were swimming. She said it's a normal part about being a woman and I shouldn't be embarrassed. So I won't be. Whenever you lot bother me like this again, I am going to tell you the truth. I actually feel good telling you. Timmy's mum gave me something for my cramps. We did say no secrets."

"I think that is something you can keep a secret," Jerry said. "You're not going to be like Tracy and announce it are you? I thought girls were supposed to be embarrassed by that."

"But it's embarrassing you," Tracy said. "And I've never been embarrassed about it. I was excited about it. Every girl is excited about it... that is until the experience it and then they dread it every month. I just can't believe you didn't connect the dots since you know I get it."

"We try not to think about things like that," Colin said. "I think we should just play the game. You three don't need to share with us when you're on your periods. That's information from now on that you can keep to yourself."

"Someday you'll want to know when your girlfriend is on it," Tracy said. "Someday when you're older and you're ready to shag."

"Well I'll worry about that when the time comes, but we don't need to know for you three," Colin said who had a face as red as Jerry's.

June, Sally-Anne and Tracy all laughed harder. I was glad when I had the game officially set up. I told everyone to pick a piece. I truly hoped the girls would move onto another topic. I supposed that was one of the misfortunes of hanging out with three girls. I tried to think of something that could change the subject, and then I remembered earlier that Jerry wanted to talk to Sally-Anne. Would he want to do that now?

"Jerry do you want to grab some butterbeers with Sally-Anne?" I asked and he shook his head quickly. "Not right now. I'm not thirsty. We'll grab butterbeers later."

"Well I am thirsty," Tracy said jumping up. "I'll go. Let's go Sally-Anne. I want to see if Timmy's mum has made some more of that sunburn potion anyway. Coming June?"

The three girls all got up and left leaving the three of us to stare at each other.

"They must be up to something," I said.

"I hope it's nothing else embarrassing," Jerry said. "I wish we had just let it go."

"They're probably laughing about us," Colin said. "What are you two up to anyway? You wanted Jerry and Sally-Anne to go Timmy."

"Remember I told you I thought she has a crush on me?" Jerry asked him. "I was going to try and talk to her alone but it can wait until tomorrow or Monday or I can even write her. Too embarrassing right now. I thought girls, especially ones our age are supposed to be embarrassed about periods but those three aren't."

"Probably because we are embarrassed," I replied. "I tried to ignore it as much as possible with Ellen, but I noticed that with her. She was embarrassed until she realized that she could make fun of boys with it. The girls will probably use it against us. So I think we should try our best not to be too embarrassed around them with it. They'll take advantage."

"I just hope they have another thing to talk about when they get back," Jerry said. "Let's just get the game started."

The rest of their visit was a lot of fun but in a way I was glad when the girls left. There really wasn't much drama after that night, except for Tracy with some of her bitchy comments. I was just glad for it to be Colin, Jerry and me. It felt less embarrassing but the girls also got annoyed when they thought we were doing 'dumb' things. They got annoyed with us for throwing things off the balcony. With them gone, we could do it freely when mum wasn't paying attention.

There was a moment when Ellen came home to yell at us for it. For some reason she came over with Keith and Ashley even though she was supposed to be staying at Ashley's. I was really hoping that she wasn't coming to stay. I had enjoyed the freedom without her around. She wanted mum though, so perhaps she was asking to see if she could stay the rest of the summer. I really hoped so. The moment she'd left, I'd felt less stressed.

"She looks like she has been crying," Colin observed.

We had just hit some bloke with one of my remaining alphabet blocks and he couldn't figure it out. We had been laughing until Ellen had shown up with her friends. I was worried she'd tell on us and mum would yell at us. Mum had said she was trusting us to go out on the balcony. She said if we were caught again, she wouldn't let us go on it together for the rest of the summer.

I shrugged. "That's nothing unusual," I replied. "She cries over silly things and it seems like she has been more than usual this summer. She cried at some silly commercial."

"So did you ever ask Sally-Anne about her crush?" Colin asked Jerry. "You haven't said but she seemed so jealous the entire time the girls were here. You told June she looked beautiful and Sally-Anne got so angry and then Tracy sat on you again, and she looked as if she could hex her. She didn't get that way when Timmy let June sit on him."

"She can anytime she wants," Jerry said with a shrug. "She seems as if she doesn't want to touch me at all, but then she gets all annoyed when the other two do. She got angry when June and me were wrestling on the Twister mat. I never got the chance to ask her."

"Well you should soon," I said. "Just remember what I told you about Michael and Ellen."

"Why what happened?" Colin asked.

"Michael had... well he still does but after their first year he was all over Ellen but she didn't like it. She wouldn't tell him to go away and he kept jealous about her being around other blokes. They got in a huge fight," I said. "Actually their whole group did."

"You should talk to her then," Colin said to Jerry. "Look at how we were all the first night here. We were at each others throats. And it was mainly because of Sally-Anne and you. You were taking it out on Tracy and then it was kind of affecting us too. If you don't like her, you need to tell her. Maybe you led her on somehow."

"Maybe," Jerry said. "Maybe I'll write her when I go home or something. It's not an easy thing to bring up you know. She isn't my type. She is a pretty girl and everything, and I would snog her if she wanted that but I won't want her as a girlfriend. I couldn't date any of the girls in our group."

"Who is your type then?" I asked. "Is it just red heads you want or something?"

"No they don't have to be ginger," Jerry said. "I don't know exactly, I just know that it's not the girls we hang out with. I don't mind them being shy and June is pretty enough, but she feels like a sister to me. Sally-Anne doesn't exactly feel like a sister but I can't explain it either and Tracy is obvious. I just like having a platonic friendship with all three."

"Same here," I said. "But you should talk to Sally-Anne so she understands that soon. We don't want any awkwardness. Plus Tracy seems more and more comfortable with us than before. She never used to be like that with you, but now she is. It's going to cause a fight."

Jerry nodded. "I will. Just give me sometime but I'll make sure I do it before school starts."

We got together quite a few more times after that. Ellen was home again, but she seemed weird and weepy. I wondered what it was that bothered her so much. She was happy with Keith, so it couldn't be about Ashley and Ben. As far as I knew, they hadn't gotten engaged, so she couldn't be sad about that. There was a few times when Michael, Ben and Ashley all came over to comfort her. Mum seemed kind of sad too but she wouldn't tell me either. I hated it because I felt like they were leaving me out of something because of my age.

One afternoon, Keith came into the living-room where I was watching some silly Canadian sitcom. It was about a school called Degrassi. It wasn't bad and it kind of reminded me of some of the drama my friends and me got into. I was behind quite a few seasons. Ellen thought it was barmy but I liked it.

"Watching that barmy American show?" Keith asked as he walked over to me.

"It's Canadian and it's not barmy," I said. "She'd probably like it if she gave it a chance. She won't because of the name of it."

"How'd you know it was Ellen who said that?" Keith asked with amusement.

"Because she is the only one who calls it barmy. June told me about it and sometimes when they come over, we watch it," I answered. "Mum said she might get me some seasons to watch."

"Well Ellen wants to talk to you," Keith said to me. "She is in her room."

"You were in her room with the door shut," I said. "Why is that suddenly allowed? You're not supposed to be in there with the door shut."

Keith shrugged. "I have to go mate. I'll see you later."

I sighed and shut off the telly before I stood up and headed to Ellen's room. She was sitting on the edge of her bed. She looked a little nervous. She never looked at me that way.

"Keith said you wanted to talk to me," I said.

I wondered what was going on. I took a seat beside her.

"Mum lets him come over more now. She doesn't even care that you two were in here for a long time," I continued.

"Well there is a reason for that," Ellen answered. "I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm pregnant Timmy."

I stared at her. Did I hear her right? She had to be joking. This was just a prank because I kept rubbing my grades in her face. She wanted me to think she was pregnant, and then she was going to laugh in my face.

"You're yanking my chain right?" I finally asked. "This is some kind of prank for rubbing my grades in your face all summer."

Ellen shook her head and then put a hand on her stomach.

"Tell me you're joking," I insisted now feeling some dread. Of all the things she had done over the years, she couldn't be pregnant. She couldn't ruin her life or an innocents baby's by not finishing Hogwarts. She didn't have the OWL grades to finish now. "You can't be sixteen and pregnant."

"I'm not. I found out almost a week ago. Ashley's mum noticed I was throwing up so she made me take a pregnancy test. I was shocked too," Ellen told me.

I jumped up feeling rage. How could she do that? I'd always known she had a lot of sex but I'd always thought she was careful. I knew mum had her on some kind of potion. She was going to ruin her life! My niece or nephew would have a teenaged mother just because his or her mother was so irresponsible. How could she be so stupid? Of all the stupid things she'd done over the years, this was the worst! I'd been so disappointed about her OWLs, but I'd rather hear she failed instead of that she was sixteen and pregnant.

"How could you do that Ellen!? You're ruining your life! You're not even sixteen yet and now you're knocked up? I tried not to say anything in the past with all the sex and drugs and the alcohol... but this-" and I couldn't even put it into words what I wanted to say. I was just so angry with the one person who was supposed to be a role model for me.

I stomped away from her not caring that the woman below us would complain. Once I reached her door, I thought more about what I wanted to say to her.

"I've always looked up to you Ellen. Ever since I was a little boy, I've looked up to you. I am very disappointed in you. I haven't been happy with your life choices, but this is the worst thing you've done so far. You should have worked harder in school too. Now you have terrible grades and you won't be able to support the baby because you slacked off. You'd better put that baby first before any of your selfish needs from now on," I said to her angrily.

I left her room and slammed the door hard behind me. I heard a knocking from below, and I knew that the neighbour was irritated by the noise.

"What's going on?" Mum asked me.

"Ellen is pregnant!" I said.

"Yes I know she is," mum said to me. "Timmy she needs our support right now."

"I don't want to support her!" I said angrily. "She shouldn't be pregnant!"

"Timmy-" Mum began but I shook my head.

"No, nothing you can say to me will change my mind," I said to her and I headed to my own room.

I quickly grabbed my parchment to write to Tracy.

When can we go over there Tracy? I need to get away from here and Ellen. Let me know.

It didn't take long before Tracy got back to me.

I'll talk to mum and dad about this weekend, but if you can't I am sure you can stay with Colin or Jerry. What is wrong?

I can't talk about it on the parchment.

Well I'll talk to mum and dad. We have the pool set up now and my sunburn is completely gone. I actually have a nice dark tan now.

I was relieved when Tracy got back to me about five minutes later that we could all go over that weekend. I hoped everyone else could go as well. I needed to talk to my friends but the parchment wasn't enough. I needed to be around them and I needed out of this flat. Going to someone elses house would help.

"She wasn't kidding when she said her house was big," Jerry said as we stared at it in awe. "You can never know with Tracy. She does brag. I didn't know her family was loaded."

"I thought it was implied," I said to him.

His father had just dropped us off, and we were now staring up at the house. Apparently the other three were already there. June's parents had taken Sally-Anne and June earlier that day while Colin's brother had dropped him off. Jerry's dad picked me up since we didn't live too far from each other. It was why we could see each other a lot.

"It isn't as big as Ben's though," I added as we walked up to knock. "Two of these houses could fit in there."

"Well the Hoofers have a lot of money," Jerry said as he knocked. "So what is going on with you? You needed to get away so bad."

"I'll tell you when we're with the others. I would have told you before but I'd rather not tell it five times," I told him.

"It must be urgent if you needed Tracy," Jerry said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Well it seems this is the only other place all six of us can together. I don't see you or Colin inviting us all over."

"Maybe next summer," Jerry said. "It's not as if I don't want to. It's up to mum and dad, not me. I'd have all of you over quite a bit. It would beat hanging out at your flat. Nothing wrong with your place, but it's small and you don't have a yard."

"Trust me I know," I said. "But maybe Tracy's place could be the new hang out. Knock again. No one is answering."

Jerry knocked hard. "We told them we'd be here at this time."

Moments later, a man with graying hair opened the door and stared down at us. I was assuming it was her father. If it was, Tracy wasn't lying when she said he was tall. I thought he was even taller than dad.

"Timmy and Jerry?" The man asked and we nodded.

"It's polite to answer when someone asks you a question," he said.

"Yes I am Timmy and that is Jerry," I said quickly.

"Come on in," he said stepping back and opening the door further. We walked into a large foyer that was all dark red. It made the room dark. It also had a heavy smell of lemons that actually burnt my nose. I saw Jerry wrinkle his nose. "Everyone is upstairs. Tracy will show you where you are sleeping," and then he leaned down to stare at us. "No funny business with my daughter!"

"No of course not sir," Jerry said in a shaky voice.

The man pointed to a staircase and we hurried over to them and rushed up them. Was he always like that? When we got to the top of the steps, it was to see a very dark hallway with thick carpet. The walls were painted a dark blue colour and most of the doors were shut. I figured there must have been at least six bedrooms or maybe one of the doors led to a bathroom. We could hear loud music coming from one to the right, so we hurried over to it.

"I feel like I am in a haunted mansion," Jerry muttered to me. "Why is it so dark in here?"

"And her father seemed like a scary butler," I murmured back as I knocked on the door.

The door opened and a smiling Tracy stared back at us. Her room was much brighter than the hallway. It was a Hufflepuff yellow on the walls, and the carpets were black. Other than the black carpet, the rest of the room had white or yellow. She even had white furniture set up almost like the corner in Hufflepuff. It was just smaller.

"Now this is much better," Jerry said as he stepped in. "Wow, you have a nice sized room."

We took in her four poster bed, her desk, three dressers, some book and toy shelves and what I thought was probably a toy chest.

"I got the idea after I saw Ashley's room," Tracy said. "I wanted a Hufflepuff theme too. Mum and dad did this for me when I went back. I like the finishing touches," and she pointed to some of the Hufflepuff flags.

"It's brighter at least," Jerry said and we walked over to where June, Colin and Sally-Anne were. They were sitting on the furniture. We sat down on the love seat while Tracy took a spot in the armchair. "Why is your place so dark? It seems almost scary."

"It's the one thing mum and dad agree on," Tracy said. "They think dark colours look more elegant. It apparently makes us seem more richer than we are. It's all about show and what people will think."

"It looks like a scary mansion," I said repeating what Jerry had said. "It seems almost depressing."

"I used to get nightmares from it," Tracy said. "This room used to be a dark red colour like down in my foyer. I hated it so much. I told mum it would make me very happy if she could make it Hufflepuff themed. So she changed it, and then dad went out and bought me a bed like at Hogwarts and then I told them about Hufflepuff corner, so mum arranged it like this. This room is all about trying to make me happy and to love them. I have to admit, I do like this out of everything else they've bought. It's better than all the clothes and shoes I'll never wear, on account of me being at Hogwarts."

"I like it better like this," Sally-Anne said. "It looked so formal before. It didn't seem like a room for a little girl. I don't know how you lived that way before."

"Well I didn't know what I wanted. Mum did want it to be pink, but I didn't want a pink room. I wanted it to be girly, but not pink. So they just painted it red like downstairs. They thought red was girly enough I guess, but it wasn't. They were both Gryffindors too, so I think that's why there is a lot of red. Wait until you see the living-room. Gryffindor threw up in there."

"So what is going on Timmy?" Jerry asked.

"Ellen is pregnant," and I told them everything. I expected them to be as upset as I was. Tracy had laughed when I'd told her that Ellen was pregnant, but now she was staring at me with an angry expression.

"Timmy, you yelled at her for that?" Tracy asked.

"Yes, she is sixteen and pregnant! She is ruining her life and you laughed at first. So don't sit there and lecture me."

"I laughed because she told me I'd end up being pregnant when I was her age," Tracy said. "I just find it ironic is all. But you should be supporting your sister! I know she is sixteen and pregnant, but you are her brother! It doesn't matter if I laugh or not because she's not my sister, but I can tell you that if my sister had gotten pregnant at sixteen, I'd be there for her."

"She's right Timmy," Sally-Anne said. "You're making this all about you. It's about Ellen. I am sure she is feeling lousy as it is without you yelling at her."

"She is probably scared and vulnerable. She told you because she wanted your help and all you can do is yell at her and ignore her. What kind of brother are you Timmy?" June asked.

"Just like she has always supported me? She's never been there for me! She has never wanted me around and now when she has ruined her life, I am supposed to be there for her? You saw what she was like last year,"

"Yes you're supposed to be there for her because she is your sister and you love her," Sally-Anne said. "Would you treat one of us like that if we got pregnant at sixteen? Would you stop being our friends over it?"

"No," I said.

"So how can you do that to your sister?" June asked.

"You don't get it okay," I said. "She's my role model. It's easy for you to judge me but you're not my shoes."

"And you're not in her shoes," Tracy retorted.

"Get off his case!" Jerry snapped. "All three of you don't understand what he is going through. I know I'd be disappointed in my sister too. We're supposed to be his friends and all of you are jumping down his throat."

"Because Ellen needs his support," June said.

"And Timmy needs ours," Colin said. "If Howard got a girl pregnant, I know I'd be upset too. This doesn't only affect Ellen. Timmy looks up to her just as much as I look up to my brother. He wanted us this weekend, and so we shouldn't be yelling at him."

"Well you should talk to your sister is all I am saying," Tracy said. "I hate Ellen, but I find this really low Timmy. And you've always been better than this."

"I'm shocked and angry," I replied. "You don't understand."

"But I know you love Ellen," June said. "And I'll be there for you Timmy, but you do need to talk to her soon. You're right, I am not in your shoes. Ashley and Alana aren't my real sisters but I look up to them so much. I know I'd be there for them if they got pregnant. They've done so much for me."

"They haven't been disappointments lately," I said. "It's not just getting pregnant. It's everything and the way she treats me. Ashley has been more of a sister to me than my own lately. If she got pregnant I might not feel this way, but then again maybe I would. She has so much potential, especially since she's Head Girl now."

"Well, I just hope you do support her before it's too late," Tracy said. "I know you'll make a good uncle, and I know you don't want to be estranged from your sister just because you're angry with her. You know I don't like your sister at all, so you should know I wouldn't be saying something like if I didn't care about you."

"Right," I grunted. "Let's just talk about something else now. Maybe you can show us around Tracy. Your house actually is really big."

Despite how gloomy I felt, and how depressing and scary Tracy's house looked, it was actually a nice visit. Her dad had seemed strict when he'd first met Jerry and me, but after that first meeting he seemed to want to spoil us. I could actually see what Tracy had meant when she'd said her parents put on a show for company. They did act like a loving couple around us, but it was obvious when they tried to take us separate places and one thing seemed to up the other. We even went to a Quidditch game. I hadn't been to a real Quidditch game since the World Cup, but I'd been too young to remember it. I had some vague memories, but I didn't think they were real. I'd only been two after all.

Seeing a real one made me realize just how mediocre the school ones were. Ellen was quite good at playing, but the Chasers on the Wimbourne Wasps team made her look like a beginner. She would have to put in a lot of work if she wanted to be a professional. When I thought that, it made me feel sad. Her dreams of being a Professional Quidditch player were over. What was she going to do now? She didn't have the grades for much. Perhaps she could be a Herbologist. Maybe she could be Neville Longbottom's assistant. He would be taking over for Professor Sprout as the Herbology teacher in a year or two.

When I returned home from Tracy's I kept my distance from her. There was a few times when she tried to call out to me, but I ignored her. The girls, particularly Tracy kept telling me to hurry and make it up with her. I had to wonder why it meant so much to her. Perhaps it was because of her parents or something.

After a while, I did start to feel bad for her. I would see her crying in her room at times, or sobbing at night. I started to have sleepless nights because of it, and then I realized that my friends were right. Ellen had made a huge mistake, but that didn't mean the baby would be a mistake, and that she would ruin the baby's life. I knew she would love her baby girl or boy. I could tell already that she was trying to make things right.

After my realization, I kept trying to think of the right way to apologize to her but I couldn't think of a good time. The opportunity didn't come up until we were at St. Mungos and we were waiting for her first appointment and ultrasound. I was tuning out mum and Ellen's conversation until I heard mum say something about dressing the baby in girls clothes if they didn't have boy clothes right away. I told her straight up that she wouldn't be dressing my nephew in girl clothes. Apparently she'd done the same to me.

As soon as I said something, Ellen looked at me with shock and I knew I had to apologize. Tracy was right. I didn't want to be fighting with her, and I did want to be a good uncle to my niece or nephew. My sister seemed to forgive me right away though. I was think she was mostly relieved that I was talking to her again, and I actually felt the same way. I wanted to be seen as a grown up, and so I had to help her out. A grown up wouldn't stop speaking to their sibling. They would be there for them as much as possible. And I decided right there and then in the waiting room that I would do everything I could to be a good uncle and brother from then on.

After that St. Mungos appointment, I started to feel excited about the new baby. I think it was actually seeing the picture and hearing the heartbeat that did it for me. In March, I was going to be an uncle and that baby would look up to me. I would take him to fun places all the time once I was old enough. The baby would ask Ellen if she could visit her Uncle Timmy because I was so much fun to be with.

My friends seemed to be happy about my attitude in regards to the baby, even Jerry and Colin who has stood up for me right away. Ellen must have told Ashley that I was on board about the baby too, because one afternoon shortly before the pool party while we were all sitting in my room, she entered the room with a big smile on her face.

"What are you doing in here?" Tracy asked her rudely.

I shot her a warning look and so did June. Tracy just shrugged and looked away. I was wondering the same thing, but I welcomed the visit. She had actually been over more that summer than any other. Now that she could apparate, she was always coming over in the evenings. I expected a lot of it had to do with the baby now.

"I wanted to talk to Timmy, Sally-Anne and June," Ashley told Tracy before she turned to me. "I need to make this quick. I don't want your sister to get overly suspicious because I have disappearing a lot to talk to your mum. You mum and me are throwing a surprise baby shower for her over the Christmas holidays. We want you to go Timmy. Usually it's for women, but we want you, Ben and Michael there as well," and then she looked at June and Sally-Anne. "You two are more than welcome to go as well if you'd like. You don't have to get an expensive gift. Ellen won't be expecting that. Just as long as it's for the baby. It can be a rattle if you want. We're not sure of the exact date yet, but you're invited."

"Ooh yes I'd love to go," Sally-Anne answered.

"Me too," June said. "But do you think Ellen would want us to be there? Sometimes she doesn't like when we're at things because we are younger."

"She won't mind," Ashley said. "When it comes to something like this, she'll appreciate it. It shows how much of us love and support her. I'll let you know when the date is closer to the holidays. We haven't decided exactly when yet."

"Wait, what about me?" Tracy asked. "Why aren't I invited?"

"I wasn't under the impression that you liked Ellen very much," Ashley said. "And I know that Ellen doesn't like you. Do you actually want to go to a baby shower her? I've heard you've given her a hard time about it."

"From who?" Tracy asked looking annoyed. "I haven't said a word to Ellen about it once."

"But you've found it funny that she did get pregnant at sixteen," Ashley said to her. "Apparently you smirk at her every time you see her. If you want to go you can, but you had better not ruin it. I will personally escort you out. You'd better buy a thoughtful gift as well," she said to Tracy and then she looked at Colin and Jerry afterwards. "If you two want to go, you're more than welcome as well but it's usually a girl thing. Michael and Ben are going because they are her best friends and they want to be involved, and Timmy is going just because he is her brother."

Jerry made a face at that. "I don't want to go to no stinking baby shower. It will be full of girls squealing about baby gifts. I can buy her a gift but I am not going."

"I don't want to go either," Colin said. "I can buy a gift too but I am not going."

Ashley laughed. "I didn't think you two would want to but I didn't want you left out either. I'd better get going. I don't want Ellen to come looking for me, she might overhear. I'll keep in touch with you girls."

Tracy waited until she was out of the room.

"Have you been telling people that I was rude to her Timmy? I haven't said a word to Ellen! I even stuck up for her!"

I was shocked to see that she actually looked close to tears. Generally things like this didn't affect her that much. People accused her of things but she usually shrugged it off.

"You have been smirking at Ellen, and I think she is just assuming that you have or would say something," I told her with a shrug.

"I'm going home," Tracy said angrily.

"Why?" I asked. "I didn't say a word. You're not actually angry with me over that are you?"

"No, but I just want to go home," Tracy said and she got up and walked out the door.

"Mum can take you home!" I called after her.

I got up and hurried after her but by the time I got into the living-room, she'd slammed the door behind her.

"Are you fighting with that girl again?" Mum asked me looking over from the telly in surprise. "Timmy, you really should stop hanging out with her if she is causing problems."

"No not this time," I said and I quickly explained what had happened. "I don't know why she is so upset. People say things like that to her all the time. She usually expects that people are going to assume things about her."

"Well if she was sticking up for Ellen then it's different this time," mum answered. "I don't like that little girl at all, but I can understand why she is upset this time."

"But it's her own fault," I said. "Usually she is the first one to be rude about those things. The older kids are used to her doing that, so of course they are going to assume that she's the problem."

"Yes but I can understand why she is upset," mum said. "Just give her a few days Timmy. She'll come around."

I nodded and then returned back to my room. Everyone was discussing Tracy.

"Tracy seemed really upset this time," June said to me as I took seat beside her on the bed. "I've never seen her react that way before. Normally when one of the older kids say something to her, she gets angry but she moves on. She looked like she wanted to cry this time. She never gets like that when Ellen makes assumptions."

"Mum thinks it's because she was sticking up for Ellen this time though," I said with a shrug. "I really don't get it either."

"I honestly still think it's because it's Ashley this time," Sally-Anne replied.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well the others disagree," Sally-Anne began, "but I think it's because she looks up to Ashley. I think she wants the sister relationship with her too, she'll just never admit it. With Ellen or the others, she doesn't care if they make assumptions but she does with Ashley."

"But why Ashley but not Alana?" June asked her. "I would think she would want that with Alana too if she wants the sister relationship. She can just as rude to Alana as she is to Ellen."

"No, I think she wants it with Alana too," Sally-Anne said. "We all know by now that Tracy is insecure. She won't ever show her true feelings. She hides behind that bitchiness so that we don't see the real Tracy. We all know that by now. I just think she is very envious of the sister relationship and she feels left out. I'm not a sister but Ashley and Alana are just as nice to me as they are to you June. Ellen gives attitude to all of us because we are younger."

"I don't know," Jerry said. "She has always said it's stupid that Ashley takes notice of us. She thinks it's weird that someone her age wants to hang out with us."

"Or so she says," I said.

I thought what Sally-Anne said actually made sense. I remembered when June had first started hanging out with Alana, Rory and Derek. Tracy had wanted to be friends with them too, but all three had shot her down right away. They still all disliked her to this day. She seemed to take their comments well, and she even joked with them, but perhaps she just really wanted them all to like her. Sally-Anne also had a point about Ellen giving us all attitude. She was nicer to my other friends, but she still hated having them around. So it made sense why Tracy didn't care too much if Ellen didn't like her as opposed to Ashley.

"You might have a point, but Tracy brings it on herself," June said. "Ashley tried being nice to her when she first met us, but Tracy gave her attitude. None of us were to keen on her at the beginning, but we've gotten to know her. Ashley and Ellen haven't. They've never seen the Tracy that we like."

"I'm still not that keen on her," Jerry said.

"You can't hate her that much," Colin said. "You say you do, but you are affectionate with her. If you dislike her, you wouldn't let her hang off you all the time or even sit on you. Sometimes I think you two have what the older kids call chemistry between you. You've even said you would snog her."

"I would snog any of the girls," Jerry said with a shrug. "That doesn't mean anything, and I don't hate her; I just don't know if I like her either. I can tolerate her. She's gotten a lot better than she used to be. It's not Ashley's fault that she assumed that about Tracy though. She has been giving Ellen looks even if she stuck up for her. I've seen it myself."

"Well mum said to just give her a few days," I said. "I just wonder how she is getting home. Is she taking the Knight Bus or something?"

"She's a big girl Timmy, she can get home on her own," Colin said. "We might as well not worry about it. It's the summer and I don't want any stress or worries right now. We should relax while we still can."

I nodded. I didn't want anymore stress either that summer. Enough was going on with Ellen as it was. I didn't want to add Tracy and her problems to the mix. We were probably going to have to deal with it enough in the school year. All I wanted was for the rest of the summer to be carefree. I had a pool party to go to very soon and a niece or nephew on the way. It was supposed to be a happy time for me.

Ellen's seventeen birthday wasn't too much longer after that. It started out as a good day, but then out of the blue, my dad showed up. I felt so angry the moment I saw him. How could he just show up unannounced like that? I immediately tried to get him to leave, but he wouldn't do it. All he did was scold me for giving him attitude which made me even angrier. I hadn't seen him since I was a little boy and he thought he had authority over me? He'd replaced me with another little boy. He had no right to tell me what to do.

All that happened though was mum and Ellen getting into a big argument with him that lasted for hours. They wouldn't let me be part of it either. They made me sit on the couch to wait. Eventually I even changed, but I felt as if I would never be able to leave. I hated being a witness to this. I didn't want to watch all three of them fight like that. I was supposed to be the man of the house now, but they were all still treating me like a pesky kid. I had to be seen but not heard.

I was surprised when there was a loud crack and Ashley appeared. My parents and Ellen didn't even notice that she appeared. They were still deep in their argument.

"What's going on?" Ashley asked me as she sat beside me on the couch.

"Dad came over today. He wanted Ellen to go over there to celebrate her birthday, but she said no because of the party today and because he's been ignoring us for years. They just all started fighting with each other. Dad is blaming mum for it. He says that she should have been watching Ellen better, even though it happened at school. Then he tried to blame it on Hogwarts and everything. They've just been fighting for hours. Dad just won't let up on mum and Ellen for it. Maybe if he'd been around the last five years things might have been different," I explained.

The three of them still went on but I was surprised to hear what dad had to say next. Apparently the other woman had left him. She had seen the magic and she'd left him. Was that why he suddenly wanted us in his life again? He had chosen another family over us. How could he think that we would want him now?

"I feel really uncomfortable being here for this family moment," Ashley said to me. "Why don't you and I go to Ben's place? I'll just tell them I'm here. When they're done this, they can come."

I felt relieved when she said this. I didn't want to be here anymore. I didn't want to just sit and watch them fight like this. If I couldn't be involved in it, I might as well not be there.

"It works for me, I'm uncomfortable too," I told her.

Ashley got up and walked over to them. Ellen and my parents looked over at her with surprise.

"Oh hi," Ellen said to Ashley. "When did you get here?"

"About five minutes ago," Ashley replied. "Look, I couldn't help but overhear but I'm just going to take Timmy over to Ben's place."

Ellen and my parents all glanced at me, and they all looked upset. I wasn't sure if they were feeling guilty that I had to witness it or what the look was about. All three did seem as if they looked ashamed of themselves.

"If you could please dear," mum said to Ashley. "I'll bring Ellen over in a bit. We're almost done here. I know you lot have a big party for her."

I got up quickly and rushed over to them. I took a hold of Ashley's hand. I tried my best not to look at my father. I knew he was still watching me.

"Mum and I will be there soon," Ellen said to Ashley and then she looked at me. "I'm sorry Timmy."

"I am too, I'll see you later," dad said to me.

I did my best to give him a very dirty look. I didn't want his apology. Dad looked as if he flinched and then he looked hurt. I didn't care if I had hurt his feelings or not. He deserved it.

"Can we go now Ashley? Bye mum, bye Ellen, see you soon," I said quickly completely ignoring dad's apology.

Ashley seemed to want to get out of there quickly because she didn't hesitate. One moment we were at mum's and then the next I felt that tight suffocating feeling of apparition and then we were in Ben's kitchen. I released Ashley's hand and quickly took off out to the pool. The deck was already crowded of the older teens but I could see my friends in the pool already. I quickly took my clothes off so that I was just in my bathing suit, and then I ran to jump into the pool.

"There you are," June said as I swam over to them. "Where have you been? This party is supposed to be for Ellen. I thought you two would have been here by now."

"Or does she want to make a grand entrance?" Tracy asked me. "I don't see her anywhere."

"Dad showed up today," I answered and then I told them everything.

"So what are you going to do then?" Colin asked. "If he wants to be in your life again; are you going to let him?"

"I don't know," I answered.

And I really didn't know. I was still so angry with him, but that little boy in me did want his father back. It was very confusing. I wanted to hex him so much but I also wanted a father and son relationship. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I explained this quickly to my friends.

"It's understandable," Sally-Anne told me. "No matter how angry you are with him, he is still your dad."

"Just make him prove himself," Tracy said. "Don't give in yet because he could hurt you. Just make sure he doesn't try to buy your love."

"I have a feeling he will," I said. "Maybe if he tries I'll give him a chance but it's going to take a long time before I fully forgive him. Anyway, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I want to have a fun day."

Ellen showed up not too much longer after that. I was surprised that she announced to everyone about her pregnancy. I would have thought it would be something she would try and keep secret. However, she seemed very happy as she and Keith stood side by side to say this. The deck was full of teenagers, but it got so quiet that if one of us whispered, everyone would hear.

Slowly though, people began murmuring and then it got loud again.

"Why would she want everyone to know?" June asked. "I don't even know if I could go back to school let alone announce it to the world."

"To get it over and done with," Tracy said. "It's what I would do. Everyone is going to see her growing. You can already see a slight baby belly. She's so skinny that she is going to be very noticeable. If she is going to Hogwarts until at least the end of term, she'll be six months. Everyone can get used to the idea by the time school starts. It's actually smart. People will still probably make fun of her, but they might even move on to other things. You know what Hogwarts is like."

"You have a point there," Jerry said. "She certainly has people talking, but she is lucky in a way. She'll be done school and they'll all move on."

"Yeah I can see why she did it," Sally-Anne said as she nodded. "Something might happen in September anyway, and they'll move on. Everyone will expect to see a baby bump and she won't have to try and hide it. I don't think I could have the nerve to do that."

For the rest of the day, I tried to ignore the gossip around me, but it wasn't easy. A few times my friends had to stop me from going over to tell people off. I could hear one girl trying to say that Ellen didn't know who the father was because she'd been cheating on Keith through-out their relationship. It made me so angry because some of those girls acted like they were her friends when she talked to them.

One girl I knew of because Ellen talked about her quite a bit made me very angry. Her name was Lindsay, and Ellen used to say that she was her second best girlfriend after Ashley. They didn't hang out a lot, but she shared a lot with Lindsay. I could hear her telling a couple of boys that she actually got pregnant by some Zachary bloke. Tracy and I exchanged looks when we heard this.

"I haven't said anything," Tracy whispered to me. "I swear I didn't. I don't know who that girl is."

"I know you didn't," I muttered back. "Ellen probably told her about Zachary. She is just making assumptions. Ellen might have even told her that she cheated, but somehow I doubt it. Lindsay is probably just bringing up Zachary for the hell of it."

Tracy nodded. "I just don't want her to think I said something when I didn't. Stan is the only one who I told. I haven't even told Sally-Anne and she keeps asking me what I'd read."

I felt annoyance with Sally-Anne when it came to that. I'd told my friends not to bother Tracy about what she had read. Jerry was the only one who knew, but I didn't ever want the others to know. I did like Sally-Anne a lot, but sometimes I still felt she wanted to instigate things with Tracy. She knew the majority of us got annoyed with Tracy, and so I felt she hoped that it would impress Jerry or something by doing that. Neither one of us knew for sure yet if she liked him.

"She won't," I whispered back. "If she suspects something, I'll make sure she knows it wasn't you. I doubt she will though. She knows you really don't know Lindsay. I barely know her. I just know her from sight."

"What are you two whispering about?" June demanded.

"Yes, what is the big secret?" Jerry asked. "Since when do you two have secrets anyway."

"It's not a secret," I said quickly as everyone else stared at us.

At times it was hard having so many friends. They all wanted to know everything and they always felt left out. I understood because I felt that way too, but sometimes it felt like a lot of work. Someone always got jealous if it appeared someone else was closer to someone else. They all must have known by that point it was June and Jerry for me, and then the rest of them.

"So why are you whispering then?" Colin asked. "It's about Ellen isn't it?"

"It's about what that Lindsay girl just said," I told him. "Ellen once had a fling with that Zachary bloke she is talking about. It just lasted a summer after her third year or something. Ellen probably told her because she considers Lindsay her best girl friend after Ashley. Now she is using that old piece of information against her."

"So why whisper about it then?" Sally-Anne asked.

"Because that was one of the things I read about in Ellen's diary," Tracy answered. "I was just telling Timmy that it wasn't me who told her. I don't even know that girl. I just didn't want to get blamed for that rumour going around. They didn't even do anything besides kiss anyway. They were like thirteen or something. I just don't want it getting back to Ellen because she might assume I told people."

"But you don't even know that girl," Jerry said.

"I know, but it doesn't matter. Ellen obviously knows what is in her diary. Timmy was just telling me how Ellen knows her and that she likely told her," Tracy explained.

"I get the feeling that Ellen probably told Lindsay more than she has told Ashley," I said. "She likes to keep Ashley in the dark about certain things. Lindsay has had it out for Ellen since the whole Ben thing though."

"Why?" Sally-Anne asked.

"Because she is still in love with him," Tracy answered. "Ellen was the one who put them together, but she was still in love with him. She was hoping Ben would go to her after he realized he didn't want Lindsay. Ben broke up with Lindsay because he was in love with Ashley though and- I mean, oops. I'm sorry Timmy. I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm going to end up revealing things."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. I was about to tell them the same thing anyway. I was sure that the Lindsay, Ellen, Ashley and Ben thing was common knowledge anyway. I didn't know if Ben or Ellen knew, but I'd heard things from the older students. Lindsay had likely told people that. I quickly reassured Tracy that it was fine.

"When I tell you not to tell people things, I don't mean that," I told Tracy. "I was about to say it anyway when Sally-Anne anyway. Most of that stuff people know by now. Lindsay isn't as good of a friend as Ellen thinks she is."

"I thought I heard that too now that I think about it," June said. "I heard it in the library when I was with Alana. The older Ravenclaw girls were talking about it."

Jerry snorted. "What is it about Ben? All those girls go crazy over him. I wonder if that will happen with us. I'm surprised none of them have hexed Ashley for being with him."

"I've heard that they have," Tracy said.

"I hope that doesn't happen," Colin said. "I mean, not to sound arrogant but plenty of girls like Howard. So what if that does happen? I don't want a psycho girl after me. I just want to have a normal girl. I don't want to have a situation like Ben has."

"I have had that situation," I said thinking about Anita. "She still wants me. Thankfully she hasn't done anything else besides kiss me, but she is always staring at me. Maybe she'll have moved on by next year. I don't want to sound arrogant either but Ben actually had girls try to drug him with a love potion. If she wanted to kiss me when I didn't want to, what if she tries that?"

"Well thankfully you won't really have to have drinks around her," Tracy said. "Just make sure you don't eat or drink anything she offers. I don't understand why someone would resort to a love potion."

"I'm surprised you wouldn't," Colin said to her.

"I may do sneaky things, but not that," Tracy said. "If a boy doesn't like me, I'll move on. I'm not that desperate."

"They're bad, but what if someone already likes you but they're too scared to say anything. Maybe the love potion would give them confidence to speak up if they knew a girl or boy wanted them so much," Sally-Anne said.

"That would be an instant turn-off," I said. "If I liked a girl and she drugged me, I wouldn't like her anymore. I'm surprised at you Sally-Anne. I would think you of all people wouldn't want to do that."

"I don't want to," Sally-Anne said. "I was just talking theoretically."

"Well leave it hypothetically," Jerry told her sending her a glare. "The word is hypothetically, and you shouldn't even be discussing it that way."

I nudged him.

"Just talk to her," I muttered. "This has been going on long enough. I am sick of it. I don't want another Ellen and Michael situation."

"Fine, I will later today. Not after this discussion though. Tonight after they set off the fireworks I will talk to her," Jerry muttered back.

"What is the big secret now?" Tracy asked.

"Trying to see if we can get alcohol," I answered. "Tracy, maybe you can try."

Tracy rolled her eyes. "I have my doubts about it, but I can try. I might end up just returning with butterbeers though. Don't complain if that's what I come back with."

She swam off without another word.

"I have my doubts that is what the big secret is," Colin said with a frown.

"You know what?" Jerry began, "I am tired of this too. Sally-Anne, come for a walk with me. I am tired of all the secrets too."

Sally-Anne's eyes lit up, and I instantly felt bad for her. She was probably thinking he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend or something. Colin and me exchanged looks while June looked completely clueless. If Sally-Anne did like Jerry she must not have mentioned it to June. Had she told her about her crush on Derek? None of us said a word until the two of them had swam off as well.

"Okay, what is that about?" June asked. "We're always saying no secrets, but this is definitely something that seems to be a secret. Were you trying to get rid of Tracy for a reason?"

"Yes and no," Colin answered. "I don't think that was Timmy's intention, but I think it is better this way anyway. Should we tell her the truth Timmy?"

I shrugged. "It's June. I don't think it will hurt for her to know, and she might have some answers anyway."

"Well I don't have any answers," June said. "So stop talking as if I am not here and tell me already."

"Ooh feisty!" Colin said with a smirk. "You definitely speak your mind now more than you used to."

June stuck her tongue out at him.

"Jerry thinks that Sally-Anne might like him," I answered. "So he has gone off to talk to her. He isn't interested back in her, but he is worried about hurting her feelings or making things awkward. Colin and I have been telling her for a long time to just talk to her. That's what we were whispering about. I told him to talk to her, and he was going to wait until they set off the fireworks but I guess he changed his mind now."

"Oooh," June said and her eyes widened. "She hasn't said anything but I've wondered that too. She gets so jealous when Jerry is affectionate with Tracy or me. Actually, she gets worse with Tracy then me. Jerry supposedly hates Tracy, but the two of them seem like they have that spark anyway. I hope this doesn't ruin our friendships. I hope he lets her down easily. I don't think Sally-Anne would drug him with a love potion though you know."

"I don't think she would either," Colin said. "I think she was just saying that to see what Jerry would say or do. She isn't sneaky like that. I don't think there is a spark between Jerry and Tracy."

"There is," I said. "There is tension there. I think they secretly want each other even though they won't admit it. I just don't think they want to date each other, so I wouldn't call it a spark. I think they just want to snog each other. I've seen it too. You saw the way he reacted when he saw her in a bikini for the first time. Jerry has even said he would snog her."

"Jerry is what mum calls a horn dog," June said with a smile. "Tracy isn't beautiful, but she has sex appeal. That's why the boys want her."

"Sex appeal," Colin said making a face. "She isn't ready to have sex yet."

"No but someday she will," June said. "It doesn't mean she is going to shag. It just means that she is attractive to boys. Why do you think so many of them want to snog her? It's not just because she is willing to snog, it's because there is something about her that attracts boys. It's called sex appeal."

"How do you know all that?" I asked her. "I've never heard of sex appeal. I know what you mean now but it seems weird to say it since none of us are going to have sex."

"You didn't learn all that from the muggle telly?" June asked. "I read magazines and I watch a lot of telly. I learns things from all the smutty magazines. I saw the word sex appeal last summer and I looked it up. I didn't understand it either. I mean, I was just learning about sex then after all. Those magazines have taught me more than what mum will."

"There is a side to you that I never knew about," I said to June. "I never would have thought you'd read those magazines. They seem like the kind Tracy would read."

"Most teen girls read them," June said with a shrug. "Well, Sally-Anne is kind of prudish about them, but she is slowly getting into them too. You should see Tracy's collection of them. She has both muggle and witch ones. The Witch Weekly is tame compared to some of the muggle ones though."

"So you're both saying that Tracy has that sex thing and that Jerry wants to snog her?" Colin asked.

I nodded. "Jerry would never date her. I don't know who his type is, although he says he likes gingers. You can tell that he does want to snog her though, and she wants him too. I think Sally-Anne can see it too, and that is why she gets jealous."

June nodded. "It's true. Hopefully she moves on from this though. She gets jealous about me too, but not as bad as Tracy. She knows that Jerry and me are strictly platonic."

Jerry returned not too much longer after that sans Sally-Anne.

"What happened?" Colin asked.

"She tried to deny it at first, but I told her all of my observations and she got really embarrassed," Jerry answered. "I told her that I didn't see her anything beyond friendship, and that I didn't want to lose our friendship either over this. I said she did have to stop acting like a jealous girlfriend though because it would put tension between us."

"And what did she say?" June asked. "Where did she go? I had my suspicions about her too."

"She got all self-conscious. She said she should have known a boy like me would never like a girl like her. She started calling herself ugly and all that. So I had to reassure her that she isn't even close to being ugly. I just told her that I don't see her that way, or really any girl right now. I told her that just because I don't want to date her, it doesn't mean she is ugly because she most definitely isn't. She said that I was just saying that because she has noticed I find Tracy attractive and so she must be uglier than Tracy. I said no that isn't the case at all and that neither her or Tracy are ugly. This is why I didn't want to talk to her. I knew this was going to happen," Jerry said.

"So where is she?" June asked.

"She's talking to one of the seventh year girls," Jerry said. "That prefect named Sarah saw us. She told me that she'd talk to Sally-Anne for me. She said she can probably get through to her better as an older girl. I thought for a moment Sarah was going to get upset with me for it because Sally-Anne was getting kinda hysterical but she didn't. She just said that I can't help who I like or don't like and not to feel guilty. I do hope she can get through to Sally-Anne."

"I hope so," I said. "I don't want what happened with Ellen's group to happen with us."

"If it does, I think it will be because of Tracy more than anything," Jerry said with a shrug. "Speaking of which, where is she? I thought she was going to try and get us alcohol."

"Probably ran into some problems," June said. "I bet Ben's parents or his brother and sisters are watching to make sure none of us try and get any."

"But she still seems to be taking a long while," I said. "She was just going to bring back butterbeers if she couldn't get any real alcohol."

"Well maybe I'll go see why then," June said. "And we can find Sally-Anne in the process."

"So do you think things will be awkward between you and Sally-Anne now?" Colin asked Jerry as soon as June left.

"Maybe at first, but I do hope it won't be for very long. I like her as a friend. She is fun to hang out with when she doesn't get into those moods. It's been happening more often and I don't think it's just a girl problem, or her crush on me," Jerry said.

"She's always been like that," Colin said. "It's just easy to overlook because she is fun to be around. It's not as bad as Tracy, so it's easy to ignore. I think she just gets insecure or she just has mood swings or something. Even June gets like that sometimes too... and probably us as well," he grinned at me. "I know you do."

I smiled back at him before I turned to Jerry. "He's right. We all have our moments. I think you've just been noticing Sally-Anne more lately just because of her crush on you. Let's just enjoy the rest of the party now. We'll worry about the rest of that later. We're all sleeping at my place anyway. So we'll see how she is later."


End file.
